The deceased US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who has died at age 84, was considered arguably the most significant incumbents of that position in US history. While countless second-in-commands were limited to peripheral or ceremonial positions, Cheney exercised huge influence during the administration of George W Bush, so much so that he was frequently called as the "actual president".
Bush disliked this portrayal and said the relationship was more complicated. He pointed out that Cheney was courteous, always calling him in public settings as President, while he called him as Dick. Bush questioned even descriptions of their relationship as a partnership because it indicated that they were equals. Regardless of these denials, Cheney found the relaxed president malleable on a whole raft of policy decisions.
A Aftermath of 9/11
At the head of a contingent of neo-conservatives that included military head Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the invasion of Iraq in 2003 in response to the September 11th attacks on New York and Washington. During of the 9/11 strike, Bush had been attending a meeting at a educational institution in Florida. As Bush made his way to a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney took command, directing the downing of any unresponsive airplanes nearing the government building.
Cheney claimed the assaults transformed him, leading him to become focused on revenge. In conjunction with other neo-conservatives, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a occupation of Afghanistan in an endeavor to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then pressed fiercely for the military action of Iraq, although there was little proof of Saddam Hussein playing a role.
Controversial Decisions
He showed no remorse about the military campaign, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, nor about the enhanced interrogation of suspects apprehended after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was based on faulty information repeated by Cheney, was the proper path to take. "It was the proper decision to do at that time. I had faith at the time and I maintain that stance presently."
But even then, there were contrary opinions at a senior level about the botched execution of Iraq. One of the government's own representatives to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the role. "I observed, at a minimum," he subsequently stated "clear negligence, inaction, and irresponsibility: in the worst case, falsehoods, incompetence, and corruption."
Broader Context
Cheney was not entirely responsible for the Iraq campaign. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for similar measures. He had drafted a memorandum setting out situations in which national priorities might be endangered (encompassing "access to vital raw materials, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "the US should be postured to operate alone when cooperative measures prove impossible," explicitly mentioning defense operations against Iraq.
Bush additionally had arrived in the White House generally inclined on executing what his parent had famously refused to do in 1991; topple Saddam. Following he had been dismissed by the White House, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his plan of reducing America's engagement in the Middle East dispute and mooted defense operations against Iraq.
Bush carried a private grievance against Saddam, thinking he had been involved in a conspiracy to kill his father, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally resented that one of the most prominent establishments in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a image of his predecessor's face that each person had to walk over.
Questioning Techniques
But it was Cheney who was part of the most outspoken advocating attacking Iraq, repeatedly referencing agency briefings that were either thin or entirely inaccurate. He backed what the Bush administration politely called as "enhanced interrogation", the use of interrogation method and torture.
Responding to a Senate analysis in 2014 that concluded that no actionable intelligence had resulted from the interrogation methods, Cheney rejected the report as "riddled with crap". He stated to Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to establish protocols and create procedures to apprehend the bastards who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it would not recur. That's exactly what they did and they earn a lot of praise."
External Perception
Cheney took pleasure in nicknames assigned to him by detractors such as Darth Vader and the dark figure, and by the idea that he was a sinister influence manipulating Bush. In Peter Baker's 2013 book about the duo, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is reported as stating: "Is it me who is the malevolent mastermind in the corner that nobody ever sees leave his lair? It's a advantageous way to operate, in fact."
Corporate Connections
Debate over his commercial relationships followed him through his period as vice-president. Even though he had minimal expertise in business but good contacts in security, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's largest oil and gas corporations, in 1995 as leader and top executive.
In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's election partner for the White House. Controversially, during the military campaign, Halliburton was awarded US contracts totaling substantial sums.
It significantly boosted his finances. His yearly compensation during his tenure at the company grew from his quarter-million dollars while defence secretary to $4.4m. When he left in 2000 he had a compensation package valued at more than $20m|twenty
