The former US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who has died at the age of 84, was considered arguably the most significant holders of that office in American history. Although countless second-in-commands were limited to peripheral or ceremonial functions, Cheney wielded substantial influence during the administration of George W Bush, to the point that he was often referred to as the "true president".
Bush resented that description and claimed the dynamic was more complex. He observed that Cheney was courteous, invariably addressing him in public as President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush questioned even descriptions of their association as a partnership because it implied that they were equals. Despite these objections, Cheney viewed the laidback president accommodating on a broad range of policy decisions.
A Aftermath of 9/11
Leading of a faction of neo-cons that encompassed military head Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the invasion of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 assault, Bush had been participating in a meeting at a school in Florida. Whereas Bush headed for a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, commanding the shooting down of any unresponsive airplanes nearing the Capitol building.
Cheney said the strikes altered his perspective, leading him to become intent on retribution. Together with other neo-conservatives, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a invasion of Afghanistan in an effort to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the armed intervention of Iraq, though there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein having involvement.
Disputed Actions
He expressed no regrets about the invasion, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis perished, or about the waterboarding of individuals apprehended after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was based on misleading intelligence repeated by Cheney, was the correct course of action. "It proved to be the proper decision to do then. I had faith at the time and I believe it now."
But even at the time, there were contrary opinions at a top tier about the botched execution of Iraq. One of the administration's own representatives to the Middle East, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the post. "I witnessed, as a baseline," he subsequently stated "true dereliction, negligence, and irresponsibility: at worst, falsehoods, ineptitude, and corruption."
Additional Factors
Cheney was not completely to blame for the Iraq military action. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for comparable steps. He had written a document setting out circumstances in which national priorities might be endangered (featuring "obtaining crucial commodities, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "the US should be prepared to take unilateral action when joint efforts prove impossible," explicitly referencing armed actions against Iraq.
Bush too had arrived in the Oval Office generally inclined on executing what his parent had notably declined to do in 1991; remove Saddam. After he had been dismissed by the administration, the finance chief Paul O'Neill disclosed how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his objective of lowering America's engagement in the regional tensions and suggested defense operations against Iraq.
Bush carried a individual resentment against Saddam, convinced he had been involved in a plot to assassinate his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He also disliked that one of the biggest establishments in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a portrait of his father's visage that everyone had to step on.
Investigation Approaches
However it was Cheney who was part of the most vehement advocating striking Iraq, repeatedly quoting information documents that were whether thin or totally deceptive. He endorsed what the Bush government euphemistically referred to as "advanced techniques", the employment of waterboarding and torture.
Answering a Senate report in 2014 that found that no useful information had come from the harsh techniques, Cheney disregarded the findings as "loaded with crap". He told Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to establish protocols and create programmes to apprehend the bastards who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it would not recur. That was specifically what they did and they merit a lot of recognition."
Public Persona
Cheney enjoyed monikers assigned to him by critics such as Darth Vader and the sinister presence, and by the concept that he was a dark force manipulating Bush. In Peter Baker's 2013 publication about the pair, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is quoted as saying: "Is it me who is the sinister strategist in the corner that remains unseen emerge from his hole? It's a nice way to work, truthfully."
Commercial Ties
Debate over his commercial relationships pursued him during his tenure as second-in-command. While he had little experience in commerce but established relationships in defence, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's biggest oil and gas corporations, in 1995 as chairman and top executive.
In 2000 he became Bush's election partner for the executive branch. Contentiously, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was granted US contracts worth multiple billions.
It greatly increased his wealth. His yearly compensation during his period at the firm increased from his $258,394 while Pentagon chief to millions. When he resigned in 2000 he had a severance arrangement worth more than $20m|twenty
