The deceased US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who has died at the age of 84, was considered one of the most powerful incumbents of that position in the nation's history. While countless second-in-commands had to settle for marginal or symbolic functions, Cheney wielded substantial sway during the term of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was commonly described as the "real president".
Bush disliked such a characterisation and stated the dynamic was more complex. He noted that Cheney was deferential, consistently addressing him in public as the President, while he called him as Dick. Bush challenged even portrayals of their relationship as a team because it suggested that they were equals. In spite of such protestations, Cheney considered the easygoing president pliable on a wide array of policy decisions.
The Period Following the Attacks
Leading of a contingent of neo-conservatives that encompassed defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the invasion of Iraq in 2003 in reaction to the September 11th attacks on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 strike, Bush had been participating in a gathering at a educational institution in Florida. As Bush traveled to a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, ordering the shooting down of any non-communicating aircraft approaching the government building.
Cheney claimed the strikes changed him, leading him to become determined on retaliation. Together with other neo-cons, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a invasion of Afghanistan in an effort to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then pressed fiercely for the military action of Iraq, though there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Disputed Decisions
He expressed no regrets about the military campaign, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis perished, or about the harsh treatment of suspects apprehended after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was predicated on misleading information repeated by Cheney, was the proper path to take. "It was the right thing to do then. I believed it then and I believe it now."
Yet during that period, there were dissenting voices at a top tier about the botched execution of Iraq. One of the administration's own representatives to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the position. "I witnessed, at a minimum," he subsequently stated "true dereliction, inaction, and unaccountability: in the worst case, lying, ineptitude, and dishonesty."
Additional Factors
Cheney was not entirely responsible for the Iraq invasion. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for comparable steps. He had drafted a memorandum setting out circumstances in which national priorities might be threatened (featuring "obtaining essential resources, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "the US should be postured to act independently when cooperative measures prove impossible," specifically mentioning defense operations against Iraq.
Bush also had entered the Oval Office somewhat determined on carrying out what his father had specifically avoided to do in 1991; topple Saddam. After he had been fired by the White House, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had announced his plan of lowering America's participation in the Middle East dispute and mooted armed intervention against Iraq.
Bush bore a private grievance against Saddam, believing he had been behind a scheme to kill his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore disliked that one of the biggest accommodations in Baghdad had a ground design with a image of his parent's face that all visitors had to walk over.
Investigation Approaches
However it was Cheney who was part of the most vociferous supporting invading Iraq, repeatedly citing information documents that were whether insubstantial or totally deceptive. He supported what the Bush government euphemistically referred to as "enhanced interrogation", the use of waterboarding and torture.
Addressing a Senate report in 2014 that found that no valuable data had come from the harsh techniques, Cheney dismissed the findings as "loaded with crap". He told Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to implement measures and establish initiatives to capture the individuals who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it was not repeated. That was specifically what they did and they earn a lot of praise."
External Perception
Cheney took pleasure in monikers imposed on him by detractors such as the Star Wars villain and the sinister presence, and by the idea that he was a sinister influence directing Bush. In Peter Baker's 2013 book about the pair, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is cited as commenting: "Is it me who is the evil genius in the shadows that nobody ever sees leave his lair? It's a nice way to operate, truthfully."
Business Interests
Dispute over his business interests pursued him during his tenure as vice-president. Although he had little experience in corporate affairs but good contacts in security, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial oil and gas conglomerates, in 1995 as chairman and top executive.
In 2000 he was selected as Bush's VP candidate for the presidency. Controversially, during the military campaign, Halliburton was given US deals worth multiple billions.
It significantly boosted his finances. His annual income during his tenure at the company grew from his previous salary while Pentagon chief to over four million. When he resigned in 2000 he had a package worth in excess of $20m|twenty
