The deceased US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who has died at age 84, was seen as one of the most influential incumbents of that office in the nation's history. Although many VPs were confined to minor or ceremonial roles, Cheney wielded enormous sway during the presidency of George W Bush, to the point that he was frequently described as the "actual president".
Bush disliked that description and said the relationship was more nuanced. He observed that Cheney was respectful, consistently calling him in public as the President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush challenged even portrayals of their partnership as a partnership because it suggested that they were on equal footing. Despite these objections, Cheney found the relaxed president pliable on a wide array of policy decisions.
The Aftermath of 9/11
In charge of a contingent of conservative hawks that encompassed military head Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the invasion of Iraq in 2003 in response to the September 11th attacks on New York and Washington. At the time of the 9/11 strike, Bush had been participating in a meeting at a elementary school in Florida. As Bush traveled to a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney took command, commanding the downing of any non-communicating planes nearing the government building.
Cheney said the attacks altered his perspective, causing him to be focused on retaliation. Together with other neo-cons, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a occupation of Afghanistan in an attempt to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the invasion 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 estimated 100,000 Iraqis perished, or about the harsh treatment of detainees apprehended after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was founded on faulty intelligence repeated by Cheney, was the proper path to take. "It proved to be the right thing to do at that time. I believed it at the time and I hold that view now."
Yet even at the time, there were contrary opinions at a top tier about the poor management of Iraq. One of the administration's own special envoys to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the position. "I witnessed, as a baseline," he subsequently stated "true dereliction, inaction, and unaccountability: at worst, lying, ineptitude, and graft."
Broader Context
Cheney was not entirely accountable for the Iraq military action. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for similar measures. He had composed a memo detailing scenarios in which American interests might be compromised (including "availability of vital raw materials, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "the US should be positioned to take unilateral action when collective action prove impossible," particularly mentioning military moves against Iraq.
Bush also had arrived in the presidency vaguely intent on executing what his predecessor had notably declined to do in 1991; topple Saddam. After he had been sacked by the administration, the finance chief Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the first meeting of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had announced his intention of reducing America's engagement in the Middle East dispute and proposed defense operations against Iraq.
Bush held a private grievance against Saddam, convinced 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 largest hotels in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a portrait of his parent's face that all visitors had to step on.
Investigation Approaches
However it was Cheney who was part of the most vociferous advocating striking Iraq, consistently citing intelligence reports that were both insubstantial or entirely inaccurate. He backed what the Bush White House politely called as "advanced techniques", the use of simulated drowning and torture.
Addressing a Senate document in 2014 that found that no useful information had resulted from the harsh techniques, Cheney dismissed the report as "full of crap". He informed Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to establish protocols and create initiatives to capture the bastards who took the lives of 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it was not repeated. That's exactly what they did and they deserve a lot of credit."
Public Image
Cheney took pleasure in monikers assigned to him by critics such as Darth Vader and the dark figure, and by the concept that he was a dark force directing Bush. In the journalist's 2013 volume about the duo, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is reported as stating: "Do I represent the malevolent mastermind in the corner that nobody ever sees emerge from his lair? It's a effective way to function, in fact."
Business Interests
Controversy over his corporate affiliations followed him throughout his time as second-in-command. While he had limited background in commerce but strong connections in military, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial energy companies, in 1995 as chair and chief executive.
In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's election partner for the executive branch. Debatably, during the military campaign, Halliburton was awarded US deals totaling substantial sums.
It greatly increased his wealth. His yearly earnings during his tenure at the corporation grew from his previous salary while military head to $4.4m. When he resigned in 2000 he had a package totaling more than $20m|twenty
