The deceased US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who has died at age 84, was regarded as among the most significant incumbents of the vice-presidency in the nation's history. While many vice-presidents were limited to minor or symbolic roles, Cheney wielded enormous sway during the term of George W Bush, so much so that he was often described as the "real president".
Bush disliked such a characterisation and claimed the dynamic was more complex. He pointed out that Cheney was deferential, invariably addressing him in public as President, while he called him as Dick. Bush disputed even portrayals of their partnership as a collaboration because it suggested that they were on equal footing. In spite of these denials, Cheney considered the laidback president pliable on a broad range of governmental choices.
The Post-9/11 Era
In charge of a faction of neo-conservatives that included military head Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. During of the 9/11 strike, Bush had been participating in a session at a school in Florida. While Bush traveled to a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, directing the destruction of any unidentified airplanes heading toward the US Capitol.
Cheney claimed the strikes changed him, leading him to become intent on retribution. Along with other conservative figures, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a occupation of Afghanistan in an endeavor to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the invasion of Iraq, even though there was little proof of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Debated Policies
He showed no remorse about the invasion, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis died, nor about the enhanced interrogation of individuals apprehended after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was predicated on inaccurate intelligence repeated by Cheney, was the right course of action. "It proved to be the correct action to do then. I had faith at the time and I believe it now."
But during that period, there were dissenting voices at a senior level about the poor management of Iraq. One of the administration's own special envoys to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the position. "I saw, at the very least," he wrote later "true dereliction, inaction, and recklessness: in the worst case, lying, unfitness, and dishonesty."
Additional Factors
Cheney was not completely to blame for the Iraq invasion. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for similar measures. He had written a memorandum setting out situations in which US concerns might be endangered (featuring "availability of vital raw materials, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "the US should be positioned to operate alone when collective action prove impossible," specifically mentioning armed actions against Iraq.
Bush additionally had assumed the White House somewhat determined on carrying out what his predecessor had specifically avoided to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. After he had been dismissed by the administration, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had announced his intention of lowering America's engagement in the Middle East dispute and suggested military action against Iraq.
Bush bore a personal grudge against Saddam, convinced he had been responsible for a plot to kill his parent, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He also resented that one of the biggest establishments in Baghdad had a ground design with a portrait of his predecessor's countenance that each person had to walk over.
Investigation Approaches
But it was Cheney who was one of the most outspoken behind striking Iraq, frequently referencing intelligence reports that were whether weak or totally deceptive. He endorsed what the Bush government politely called as "advanced techniques", the application of simulated drowning and physical pressure.
Responding to a Senate document in 2014 that concluded that no actionable intelligence had been obtained through the torture, Cheney disregarded the findings as "full of crap". He stated to Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to implement measures and create procedures to catch the individuals who killed 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."
Public Persona
Cheney took pleasure in nicknames assigned to him by critics such as Darth Vader and the sinister presence, and by the notion that he was a shadow power directing Bush. In the author's 2013 publication about the pair, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is cited as commenting: "Am I the evil genius in the shadows that remains unseen emerge from his hole? It's a advantageous way to operate, in fact."
Commercial Ties
Dispute over his business interests followed him through his period as vice-president. Even though he had minimal expertise in corporate affairs but strong connections in defence, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's biggest oil and gas corporations, in 1995 as chairman and top executive.
In 2000 he was selected as Bush's running mate for the executive branch. Debatably, during the military campaign, Halliburton was awarded US contracts totaling billions.
It greatly increased his wealth. His yearly earnings during his tenure at the firm increased from his quarter-million dollars during his time as military head to $4.4m. When he departed in 2000 he had a severance arrangement totaling over $20m|twenty
