The deceased US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who passed away at age 84, was considered among the most influential occupants of that position in the nation's history. While many vice-presidents had to settle for marginal or ceremonial functions, Cheney wielded substantial influence during the administration of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was frequently called as the "true president".
Bush objected to that description and claimed the dynamic was more nuanced. He noted that Cheney was deferential, consistently addressing him in public settings as President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush questioned even descriptions of their association as a team because it suggested that they were equals. Regardless of these objections, Cheney found the laidback president malleable on a whole raft of administrative determinations.
A Post-9/11 Era
In charge of a group of conservative hawks that included defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in reaction to the September 11th attacks on New York and Washington. During of the 9/11 assault, Bush had been attending a gathering at a educational institution in Florida. Whereas Bush made his way to a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney took command, commanding the destruction of any unresponsive airplanes approaching the US Capitol.
Cheney claimed the attacks changed him, causing him to be determined on revenge. In conjunction with other neo-conservatives, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a takeover of Afghanistan in an endeavor to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the armed intervention of Iraq, although there was little proof of Saddam Hussein playing a role.
Controversial Decisions
He expressed no regrets about the armed intervention, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis perished, nor about the harsh treatment of suspects apprehended after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was founded on faulty information echoed by Cheney, was the proper decision. "It represented the right thing to do at that time. I was convinced then and I believe it presently."
However during that period, there were contrary opinions at a high level about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the administration's own representatives to the Middle East, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the position. "I observed, at a minimum," he subsequently stated "clear negligence, inaction, and recklessness: in the worst case, deception, unfitness, and corruption."
Broader Context
Cheney was not solely to blame for the Iraq campaign. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for comparable steps. He had drafted a memo detailing scenarios in which national priorities might be compromised (including "access to vital raw materials, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "America should be postured to operate alone when joint efforts cannot be orchestrated," explicitly citing armed actions against Iraq.
Bush too had arrived in the White House generally inclined on implementing what his parent had famously refused to do in 1991; topple Saddam. Following he had been sacked by the White House, the finance chief Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the first meeting of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his objective of diminishing America's participation in the regional tensions and proposed armed intervention against Iraq.
Bush held a personal grudge against Saddam, thinking he had been responsible for a scheme to assassinate his parent, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore objected to that one of the largest hotels in Baghdad had a ground design with a image of his parent's face that everyone had to tread upon.
Interrogation Methods
However it was Cheney who was part of the most outspoken advocating striking Iraq, consistently referencing agency briefings that were either insubstantial or totally misleading. He backed what the Bush administration politely called as "enhanced interrogation", the application of simulated drowning and torture.
Addressing a Senate report in 2014 that determined that no actionable intelligence had been obtained through the torture, Cheney dismissed the conclusions as "riddled with crap". He informed Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to establish protocols and put in place programmes to catch the individuals who took the lives of 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it would not recur. That is precisely what they did and they merit a lot of praise."
External Perception
Cheney reveled in labels assigned to him by opponents such as Darth Vader and The Prince of Darkness, and by the idea that he was a dark force directing Bush. In Peter Baker's 2013 volume about the duo, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is cited as commenting: "Am I the evil genius in the background that remains unseen emerge from his hole? That is a advantageous way to operate, in fact."
Commercial Ties
Debate over his business interests accompanied him throughout his time as vice-president. Even though he had limited background in commerce but strong connections in military, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial petroleum conglomerates, in 1995 as chairman and CEO.
In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's running mate for the presidency. Debatably, during the military campaign, Halliburton was granted US deals worth substantial sums.
It made him rich. His annual income during his tenure at the corporation rose from his quarter-million dollars while military head to millions. When he left in 2000 he had a compensation package totaling in excess of $20m|twenty
