The late US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who has died at age 84, was regarded as one of the most influential occupants of the vice-presidency in the nation's history. Although many VPs were confined to peripheral or ceremonial roles, Cheney wielded substantial sway during the term of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was commonly referred to as the "true president".
Bush objected to that description and claimed the connection was more complicated. He observed that Cheney was respectful, invariably addressing him in public as the President, while he called him as Dick. Bush challenged even portrayals of their relationship as a partnership because it implied that they were on equal footing. In spite of these denials, Cheney considered the laidback president pliable on a broad range of policy decisions.
The Aftermath of 9/11
In charge of a contingent of conservative hawks that encompassed defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the invasion of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the September 11th attacks on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 strike, Bush had been attending a session at a school in Florida. While Bush made his way to a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney took command, ordering the shooting down of any unidentified aircraft heading toward the US Capitol.
Cheney claimed the assaults transformed him, leading him to become intent on retribution. Together with other conservative figures, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a takeover of Afghanistan in an attempt to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the invasion of Iraq, even though there was little proof of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Disputed Decisions
He voiced no apologies about the military campaign, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis perished, or about the harsh treatment of individuals rounded up after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was based on misleading intelligence repeated by Cheney, was the right path to take. "It was the right thing to do back then. I was convinced at the time and I hold that view now."
But even then, there were contrary opinions at a high level about the poor management of Iraq. One of the government's own delegates to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the role. "I saw, at a minimum," he wrote later "obvious failure, negligence, and irresponsibility: in the worst case, lying, unfitness, and graft."
Additional Factors
Cheney was not solely responsible for the Iraq military action. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for such action. He had written a memo outlining situations in which national priorities might be endangered (encompassing "availability of vital raw materials, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "the United States should be prepared to operate alone when joint efforts cannot be arranged," particularly mentioning military moves against Iraq.
Bush also had entered the Oval Office somewhat determined on carrying out what his parent had famously refused to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. Subsequent to he had been fired by the president, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the first meeting of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his intention of lowering America's engagement in the regional tensions and proposed defense operations against Iraq.
Bush carried a personal grudge against Saddam, convinced he had been behind a scheme to kill his parent, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He also resented that one of the most prominent hotels in Baghdad had a ground design with a image of his father's visage that each person had to tread upon.
Investigation Approaches
But it was Cheney who was one of the most outspoken supporting striking Iraq, repeatedly quoting agency briefings that were either weak or entirely deceptive. He supported what the Bush government euphemistically referred to as "enhanced interrogation", the employment of waterboarding and torture.
Answering a Senate report in 2014 that concluded that no valuable data had been obtained through the harsh techniques, Cheney dismissed the findings as "loaded with crap". He informed Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to establish protocols and create initiatives to catch the perpetrators who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it was not repeated. That was specifically what they did and they earn a lot of praise."
Public Image
Cheney took pleasure in labels assigned to him by opponents such as Darth Vader and the dark figure, and by the notion that he was a sinister influence manipulating Bush. In the journalist's 2013 book about the two, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is quoted as saying: "Do I represent the malevolent mastermind in the corner that nobody ever sees leave his domain? This represents a effective way to operate, in fact."
Business Interests
Debate over his business interests followed him during his tenure as second-in-command. While he had minimal expertise in business but good contacts in military, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's biggest energy corporations, in 1995 as chair and top executive.
In 2000 he was selected as Bush's VP candidate for the executive branch. Debatably, during the military campaign, Halliburton was given US agreements worth substantial sums.
It greatly increased his wealth. His annual income during his period at the corporation increased from his previous salary while military head to over four million. When he left in 2000 he had a severance arrangement worth over $20m|twenty
