The deceased US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who has died at the age of 84, was regarded as one of the most influential incumbents of that position in American history. While numerous VPs had to settle for minor or ceremonial roles, Cheney wielded substantial power during the presidency of George W Bush, so much so that he was frequently described as the "real president".
Bush objected to this portrayal and said the connection was more complex. He observed that Cheney was deferential, consistently calling him in official appearances as President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush challenged even characterisations of their association as a partnership because it implied that they were peers. Regardless of these objections, Cheney found the relaxed president malleable on a wide array of governmental choices.
The Period Following the Attacks
In charge of a faction of conservative hawks that featured defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the military intervention of Iraq in 2003 in response to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. During of the 9/11 strike, Bush had been participating in a session at a elementary school in Florida. While Bush made his way to a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, commanding the downing of any unresponsive aircraft approaching the US Capitol.
Cheney claimed the assaults altered his perspective, causing him to be determined on revenge. Together with other conservative figures, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a takeover of Afghanistan in an effort to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the military action of Iraq, even though there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Debated Decisions
He expressed no regrets about the invasion, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, and not about the enhanced interrogation of individuals rounded up after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was founded on misleading intelligence repeated by Cheney, was the right path to take. "It represented the right thing to do back then. I had faith back then and I believe it today."
But during that period, there were opposing views at a top tier about the poor management of Iraq. One of the White House's own representatives to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the post. "I observed, at a minimum," he wrote later "obvious failure, inaction, and irresponsibility: potentially, lying, incompetence, and corruption."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not solely responsible for the Iraq campaign. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for comparable steps. He had written a document outlining scenarios in which US concerns might be threatened (featuring "access to vital raw materials, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "the US should be positioned to operate alone when joint efforts cannot be orchestrated," explicitly mentioning defense operations against Iraq.
Bush additionally had arrived in the White House generally inclined on executing what his father had famously refused to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. Subsequent to he had been sacked by the White House, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his plan of reducing America's engagement in the regional tensions and proposed defense operations against Iraq.
Bush held a individual resentment against Saddam, believing he had been responsible for a plot to murder his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally resented that one of the biggest hotels in Baghdad had a floor mural with a image of his father's countenance that each person had to walk over.
Questioning Techniques
However it was Cheney who was one of the most vociferous behind attacking Iraq, repeatedly referencing intelligence reports that were whether weak or entirely misleading. He supported what the Bush White House indirectly described as "advanced techniques", the employment of waterboarding and torture.
Addressing a Senate analysis in 2014 that determined that no valuable data had come from the torture, Cheney dismissed the conclusions as "full of crap". He informed Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to establish protocols and establish procedures to catch the individuals who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it never happened again. That was specifically what they did and they earn a lot of credit."
External Perception
Cheney enjoyed labels given to him by critics such as the dark character and the dark figure, and by the idea that he was a shadow power manipulating Bush. In the journalist's 2013 volume about the duo, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is cited as commenting: "Do I represent the evil genius in the background that remains unseen come out of his lair? That is a effective way to operate, truthfully."
Commercial Ties
Dispute over his commercial relationships followed him through his period as second-in-command. Although he had limited background in corporate affairs but strong connections in security, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's largest energy companies, in 1995 as chair and chief executive.
In 2000 he became Bush's VP candidate for the executive branch. Controversially, during the military campaign, Halliburton was granted US agreements worth substantial sums.
It significantly boosted his finances. His annual income during his tenure at the company increased from his previous salary during his time as Pentagon chief to over four million. When he left in 2000 he had a compensation package totaling over $20m|twenty
