The deceased US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who has died at age 84, was seen as among the most significant occupants of that position in the nation's history. Whereas countless second-in-commands were limited to minor or figurehead roles, Cheney wielded huge sway during the presidency of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was commonly described as the "true president".
Bush resented such a characterisation and claimed the connection was more complicated. He noted that Cheney was respectful, always addressing him in public settings as Mr President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush questioned even descriptions of their relationship as a partnership because it implied that they were on equal footing. Regardless of these denials, Cheney viewed the laidback president accommodating on a wide array of governmental choices.
A Aftermath of 9/11
At the head of a faction of neo-cons that featured Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 assault, Bush had been attending a gathering at a school in Florida. Whereas Bush headed for a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney took command, ordering the downing of any unidentified aircraft heading toward the government building.
Cheney stated the attacks transformed him, causing him to be focused on revenge. In conjunction with other conservative figures, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a occupation of Afghanistan in an effort to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then pressed fiercely for the armed intervention of Iraq, though there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein playing a role.
Debated Actions
He voiced no apologies about the military campaign, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, or about the waterboarding of individuals captured after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was based on misleading reports repeated by Cheney, was the right path to take. "It proved to be the proper decision to do back then. I was convinced at the time and I believe it now."
But even then, there were dissenting voices at a senior level about the botched execution 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 observed, as a baseline," he subsequently stated "clear negligence, inaction, and unaccountability: at worst, falsehoods, unfitness, and graft."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not completely 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 US concerns might be threatened (encompassing "availability of vital raw materials, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "the United States should be prepared to act independently when joint efforts prove impossible," specifically referencing armed actions against Iraq.
Bush also had assumed the White House generally inclined on carrying out what his predecessor had specifically avoided to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. Following he had been sacked by the president, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his intention of diminishing America's involvement in the regional tensions and suggested defense operations against Iraq.
Bush bore a individual resentment against Saddam, convinced he had been behind a conspiracy to kill his father, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He also objected to that one of the biggest accommodations in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a image of his parent's face that all visitors had to step on.
Investigation Approaches
But it was Cheney who was part of the most vociferous supporting invading Iraq, repeatedly referencing information documents that were whether insubstantial or entirely deceptive. He backed what the Bush administration indirectly described as "intensive questioning", the employment of waterboarding and harsh treatment.
Responding to a Senate document in 2014 that concluded that no valuable data had come from the harsh techniques, Cheney rejected the conclusions as "loaded with crap". He stated to Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to implement measures and establish procedures to apprehend the bastards who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it would not recur. That is precisely what they did and they merit a lot of credit."
Public Image
Cheney enjoyed nicknames given to him by detractors such as the dark character and the dark figure, and by the idea that he was a dark force 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: "Do I represent the malevolent mastermind in the background that remains unseen leave his hole? That is a effective way to operate, in fact."
Commercial Ties
Debate over his business interests accompanied him through his period as second-in-command. Even though he had little experience in business but good contacts in defence, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial petroleum conglomerates, in 1995 as chairman and chief executive.
In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's running mate for the presidency. Controversially, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was granted US agreements totaling substantial sums.
It significantly boosted his finances. His annual income during his period at the company grew from his $258,394 while Pentagon chief to millions. When he departed in 2000 he had a compensation package totaling in excess of $20m|twenty
