The former US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who has died at the age of 84, was seen as arguably the most influential holders of that office in American history. Although countless second-in-commands were limited to peripheral or figurehead functions, Cheney held huge power during the term of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was often called as the "true president".
Bush disliked that description and stated the dynamic was more nuanced. He observed that Cheney was respectful, always referring to him in official appearances as President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush challenged even descriptions of their partnership as a partnership because it suggested that they were on equal footing. Despite such protestations, Cheney found the relaxed president malleable on a wide array of administrative determinations.
The Post-9/11 Era
At the head of a faction of neo-conservatives that included Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the invasion of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. At the time of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been participating in a gathering at a educational institution in Florida. As Bush headed for a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney took command, commanding the downing of any unidentified aircraft nearing the Capitol building.
Cheney claimed the assaults transformed him, leading him to become intent on retaliation. Together with other conservative figures, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a occupation of Afghanistan in an endeavor to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then pressed fiercely for the armed intervention of Iraq, even though there was little proof of Saddam Hussein playing a role.
Controversial Decisions
He expressed no regrets about the invasion, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, and not about the enhanced interrogation of suspects rounded up after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was founded on inaccurate reports circulated by Cheney, was the correct decision. "It proved to be the correct action to do at that time. I was convinced at the time and I maintain that stance presently."
However during that period, there were opposing views at a top tier about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the government's own representatives to the Middle East, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the post. "I witnessed, at a minimum," he wrote later "clear negligence, carelessness, and recklessness: at worst, lying, unfitness, and graft."
Broader Context
Cheney was not entirely accountable for the Iraq campaign. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for comparable steps. He had drafted a memorandum detailing situations in which US concerns might be endangered (featuring "obtaining essential resources, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "the US should be positioned to take unilateral action when cooperative measures cannot be orchestrated," specifically referencing armed actions against Iraq.
Bush also had assumed the presidency vaguely intent on executing what his father had specifically avoided to do in 1991; remove Saddam. After he had been sacked by the president, the finance chief Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his plan of diminishing America's participation in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and suggested military action against Iraq.
Bush carried a private grievance against Saddam, believing he had been involved in a conspiracy to assassinate his father, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He also resented that one of the biggest establishments in Baghdad had a ground design with a portrait of his father's visage that everyone had to step on.
Investigation Approaches
Yet it was Cheney who was one of the most vociferous behind invading Iraq, frequently quoting information documents that were both weak or completely inaccurate. He supported what the Bush government politely called as "advanced techniques", the use of waterboarding and torture.
Responding to a Senate report in 2014 that determined that no actionable intelligence had been obtained through the interrogation methods, Cheney dismissed the report as "riddled with crap". He informed Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to establish protocols and put in place programmes to catch the perpetrators who took the lives of 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it was not repeated. That was specifically what they did and they merit a lot of credit."
External Perception
Cheney took pleasure in nicknames given to him by critics such as the dark character and the sinister presence, and by the idea that he was a shadow power controlling Bush. In the author's 2013 publication about the duo, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is cited as commenting: "Do I represent the sinister strategist in the corner that operates invisibly leave his domain? It's a advantageous way to work, truthfully."
Business Interests
Debate over his corporate affiliations followed him during his tenure as second-in-command. Even though he had little experience in business but established relationships in security, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial energy conglomerates, in 1995 as chairman and top executive.
In 2000 he was selected as Bush's running mate for the White House. Controversially, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was granted US deals worth multiple billions.
It significantly boosted his finances. His yearly earnings during his tenure at the company rose from his $258,394 when he was military head to millions. When he resigned in 2000 he had a package valued at more than $20m|twenty
