The deceased US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who has died at the age of 84, was considered one of the most influential incumbents of the vice-presidency in US history. Although numerous second-in-commands were limited to minor or figurehead functions, Cheney exercised huge power during the administration of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was frequently described as the "actual president".
Bush disliked such a characterisation and claimed the relationship was more nuanced. He noted that Cheney was respectful, consistently calling him in public as the President, while he called him as Dick. Bush questioned even descriptions of their partnership as a collaboration because it implied that they were peers. Despite these objections, Cheney considered the laidback president malleable on a wide array of governmental choices.
The Aftermath of 9/11
At the head of a faction of conservative hawks that included Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the invasion of Iraq in 2003 in response 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 school in Florida. While Bush made his way to a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney took command, commanding the destruction of any non-communicating airplanes nearing the US Capitol.
Cheney stated the strikes altered his perspective, making him become focused on retaliation. In conjunction with other conservative figures, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a occupation of Afghanistan in an endeavor to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the military action of Iraq, though there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Debated Policies
He voiced no apologies about the military campaign, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis perished, nor about the harsh treatment of suspects captured after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was based on faulty information repeated by Cheney, was the proper path to take. "It was the proper decision to do back then. I had faith back then and I hold that view presently."
But even then, there were opposing views at a top tier about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the White House's own special envoys to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the position. "I witnessed, at a minimum," he subsequently stated "clear negligence, negligence, and recklessness: in the worst case, lying, unfitness, and corruption."
Additional Factors
Cheney was not solely accountable for the Iraq campaign. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for such action. He had composed a memo setting out scenarios in which American interests might be threatened (including "obtaining vital raw materials, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "the US should be positioned to act independently when cooperative measures prove impossible," explicitly mentioning military moves against Iraq.
Bush also had entered the presidency somewhat determined on executing what his father had notably declined to do in 1991; topple Saddam. After he had been fired by the White House, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the first meeting of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had announced his objective of diminishing America's participation in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and proposed defense operations against Iraq.
Bush bore a private grievance against Saddam, believing he had been responsible for a scheme to murder his parent, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally disliked that one of the biggest hotels in Baghdad had a ground design with a image of his father's countenance that everyone had to step on.
Interrogation Methods
However it was Cheney who was among the most outspoken advocating attacking Iraq, consistently quoting intelligence reports that were both weak or completely deceptive. He backed what the Bush White House politely called as "enhanced interrogation", the employment of interrogation method and physical pressure.
Answering a Senate analysis in 2014 that concluded that no valuable data had resulted from the torture, Cheney rejected the report as "full of crap". He told Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to take steps and establish procedures to catch the perpetrators who took the lives of 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it was not repeated. That was specifically what they did and they merit a lot of recognition."
External Perception
Cheney enjoyed nicknames imposed on him by detractors such as the Star Wars villain and The Prince of Darkness, and by the notion that he was a shadow power directing 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 sinister strategist in the shadows that nobody ever sees emerge from his hole? This represents a advantageous way to function, in fact."
Corporate Connections
Debate over his business interests pursued him through his period as vice-president. Even though he had little experience in corporate affairs but good contacts in security, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's largest energy corporations, in 1995 as leader and top executive.
In 2000 he was selected as Bush's running mate for the White House. Debatably, during the military campaign, Halliburton was given US contracts worth multiple billions.
It made him rich. His yearly earnings during his tenure at the company grew from his $258,394 when he was military head to $4.4m. When he departed in 2000 he had a package totaling over $20m|twenty
