The late US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who has died at age 84, was regarded as arguably the most influential holders of that office in the nation's history. While countless second-in-commands were confined to peripheral or symbolic functions, Cheney exercised substantial influence during the term of George W Bush, to the point that he was commonly referred to as the "true president".
Bush disliked this portrayal and said the relationship was more complicated. He noted that Cheney was deferential, always calling him in public settings as President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush challenged even descriptions of their association as a partnership because it suggested that they were equals. Despite such protestations, Cheney viewed the easygoing president malleable on a whole raft of administrative determinations.
The Post-9/11 Era
In charge of a faction of conservative hawks that encompassed Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in reaction to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. At the time of the 9/11 assault, Bush had been taking part in a gathering at a elementary school in Florida. As Bush headed for a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, commanding the shooting down of any non-communicating airplanes approaching the US Capitol.
Cheney stated the attacks changed him, causing him to be determined on retaliation. Along with other neo-conservatives, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a occupation of Afghanistan in an attempt to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the armed intervention of Iraq, although there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Disputed Actions
He expressed no regrets about the military campaign, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis perished, or about the waterboarding of detainees captured after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was based on faulty intelligence echoed by Cheney, was the right course of action. "It was the right thing to do then. I had faith back then and I hold that view today."
However during that period, there were opposing views at a senior level about the botched execution of Iraq. One of the government's own delegates to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the role. "I witnessed, as a baseline," he subsequently stated "clear negligence, inaction, and irresponsibility: at worst, falsehoods, incompetence, and dishonesty."
Broader Context
Cheney was not solely to blame for the Iraq campaign. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for comparable steps. He had composed a memorandum setting out circumstances in which American interests might be threatened (featuring "obtaining vital raw materials, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "the US should be prepared to act independently when cooperative measures prove impossible," explicitly citing defense operations against Iraq.
Bush too had entered the presidency somewhat determined on executing what his predecessor had notably declined to do in 1991; remove Saddam. Following he had been fired by the administration, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the first meeting of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his objective of reducing America's engagement in the Middle East dispute and suggested military action against Iraq.
Bush carried a private grievance against Saddam, thinking he had been involved in a plot to murder his parent, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore resented that one of the largest accommodations in Baghdad had a floor mural with a image of his father's countenance that everyone had to walk over.
Questioning Techniques
However it was Cheney who was among the most outspoken supporting attacking Iraq, consistently referencing agency briefings that were both insubstantial or entirely misleading. He supported what the Bush government politely called as "enhanced interrogation", the employment of simulated drowning and harsh treatment.
Responding to a Senate report in 2014 that concluded that no valuable data had resulted from the torture, Cheney disregarded the conclusions as "loaded with crap". He informed Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to take steps and put in place initiatives to capture the perpetrators who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it would not recur. That was specifically what they did and they deserve a lot of recognition."
External Perception
Cheney took pleasure in nicknames given to him by opponents such as the Star Wars villain 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 cited as commenting: "Am I the malevolent mastermind in the background that remains unseen emerge from his domain? That is a nice way to operate, in fact."
Commercial Ties
Dispute over his corporate affiliations followed him through his period as second-in-command. Although he had little experience in corporate affairs but good contacts in defence, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's biggest energy corporations, in 1995 as leader and top executive.
In 2000 he became Bush's election partner for the White House. Contentiously, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was given US contracts totaling billions.
It greatly increased his wealth. His annual income during his time at the corporation rose from his $258,394 when he was defence secretary to $4.4m. When he departed in 2000 he had a compensation package valued at more than $20m|twenty
