The late US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who has died at the age of 84, was seen as among the most significant occupants of the vice-presidency in the nation's history. Although numerous VPs had to settle for peripheral or ceremonial positions, Cheney exercised huge sway during the administration of George W Bush, to the point that he was frequently referred to as the "actual president".
Bush objected to this portrayal and said the connection was more nuanced. He pointed out that Cheney was courteous, always calling him in public as Mr President, while he called him as Dick. Bush challenged even portrayals of their relationship as a collaboration because it indicated that they were on equal footing. Despite these denials, Cheney found the easygoing president pliable on a wide array of governmental choices.
A Aftermath of 9/11
At the head of a faction of neo-cons that encompassed military head Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the invasion of Iraq in 2003 in response to the September 11th attacks on New York and Washington. During of the 9/11 strike, Bush had been taking part in a session at a educational institution in Florida. While Bush traveled to a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney took command, commanding the shooting down of any unresponsive planes heading toward the Capitol building.
Cheney claimed the assaults altered his perspective, making him become intent on retribution. In conjunction with other neo-conservatives, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a takeover of Afghanistan in an attempt to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the military action of Iraq, although there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein playing a role.
Debated Decisions
He showed no remorse about the armed intervention, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis perished, nor about the waterboarding of suspects apprehended after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was founded on misleading information circulated by Cheney, was the proper decision. "It was the right thing to do then. I believed it back then and I believe it now."
However even then, there were dissenting voices at a senior level about the poor management of Iraq. One of the government's own representatives to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the role. "I saw, as a baseline," he later wrote "clear negligence, carelessness, and recklessness: potentially, falsehoods, ineptitude, and dishonesty."
Broader Context
Cheney was not entirely responsible for the Iraq military action. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for similar measures. He had drafted a memo setting out circumstances in which US concerns might be threatened (encompassing "access to crucial commodities, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "America should be positioned to take unilateral action when cooperative measures prove impossible," specifically mentioning military moves against Iraq.
Bush also had arrived in the White House vaguely intent on carrying out what his predecessor had specifically avoided to do in 1991; topple Saddam. Following he had been fired by the president, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his objective of diminishing America's engagement in the Middle East dispute and mooted military action against Iraq.
Bush carried a individual resentment against Saddam, convinced he had been responsible for a scheme to kill his father, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally resented that one of the most prominent establishments in Baghdad had a floor mural with a portrait of his parent's face that everyone had to step on.
Interrogation Methods
But it was Cheney who was among the most vociferous advocating attacking Iraq, repeatedly referencing information documents that were whether insubstantial or completely misleading. He backed what the Bush administration politely called as "enhanced interrogation", the application of waterboarding and torture.
Responding to a Senate analysis in 2014 that found that no actionable intelligence had come from the torture, Cheney dismissed the report as "riddled with crap". He informed Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to implement measures and put in place programmes to catch the perpetrators who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it would not recur. That is precisely what they did and they deserve a lot of recognition."
Public Persona
Cheney took pleasure in monikers assigned to him by critics such as the Star Wars villain and the dark figure, and by the concept that he was a sinister influence controlling Bush. In the journalist's 2013 publication about the duo, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is quoted as saying: "Am I the sinister strategist in the shadows that nobody ever sees come out of his hole? It's a nice way to operate, actually."
Business Interests
Debate over his commercial relationships accompanied him through his period as vice-president. Although he had minimal expertise in business but strong connections in military, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's largest oil and gas conglomerates, in 1995 as chairman and chief executive.
In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's running mate for the White House. Controversially, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was awarded US deals totaling billions.
It greatly increased his wealth. His annual income during his period at the firm rose from his previous salary during his time as Pentagon chief to over four million. When he left in 2000 he had a compensation package valued at in excess of $20m|twenty
