The former US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who has died at the age of 84, was regarded as one of the most significant holders of that office in American history. While many second-in-commands were limited to marginal or symbolic positions, Cheney wielded huge power during the term of George W Bush, to the point that he was frequently called as the "actual president".
Bush disliked that description and claimed the relationship was more complex. He noted that Cheney was respectful, always calling him in public as the President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush questioned even descriptions of their association as a collaboration because it suggested that they were peers. Regardless of these denials, Cheney viewed the easygoing president pliable on a whole raft of policy decisions.
The Period Following the Attacks
In charge of a contingent of neo-conservatives that encompassed military head Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in response to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. During of the 9/11 assault, Bush had been attending a gathering at a school in Florida. Whereas Bush made his way to a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney took command, ordering the downing of any unresponsive aircraft heading toward the US Capitol.
Cheney claimed the assaults changed him, making him become intent on retaliation. Along with other conservative figures, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a occupation of Afghanistan in an effort to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the invasion of Iraq, although there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein playing a role.
Controversial Actions
He voiced no apologies about the invasion, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, and not about the harsh treatment of detainees captured after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was founded on faulty intelligence repeated by Cheney, was the proper decision. "It was the proper decision to do then. I was convinced back then and I hold that view today."
But even at the time, there were dissenting voices at a high level about the botched execution of Iraq. One of the administration's own delegates to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the post. "I saw, at a minimum," he subsequently stated "obvious failure, negligence, and unaccountability: potentially, lying, unfitness, and corruption."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not completely responsible for the Iraq campaign. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for similar measures. He had written a memo detailing scenarios in which national priorities might be endangered (including "access to essential resources, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "the United States should be positioned to take unilateral action when joint efforts cannot be orchestrated," specifically mentioning military moves against Iraq.
Bush also had entered the Oval Office somewhat determined on implementing what his father had notably declined to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. Subsequent to he had been fired by the president, the finance chief Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his plan of lowering America's involvement in the regional tensions and suggested military action against Iraq.
Bush carried a private grievance against Saddam, thinking he had been behind a conspiracy to assassinate his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally resented that one of the biggest establishments in Baghdad had a floor mural with a image of his parent's visage that all visitors had to step on.
Questioning Techniques
However it was Cheney who was one of the most outspoken advocating invading Iraq, consistently quoting intelligence reports that were both insubstantial or completely deceptive. He supported what the Bush government indirectly described as "advanced techniques", the employment of interrogation method and harsh treatment.
Responding to a Senate analysis in 2014 that found that no valuable data had been obtained through the torture, Cheney dismissed the findings as "full of crap". He told Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to establish protocols and put in place procedures to capture the individuals who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it never happened again. That is precisely what they did and they merit a lot of recognition."
Public Image
Cheney took pleasure in nicknames assigned to him by detractors such as Darth Vader and the sinister presence, and by the concept that he was a shadow power directing Bush. In the journalist's 2013 publication about the pair, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is quoted as saying: "Do I represent the malevolent mastermind in the shadows that operates invisibly leave his domain? It's a nice way to work, in fact."
Business Interests
Controversy over his business interests followed him through his period as second-in-command. Even though he had minimal expertise in business but strong connections in security, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's largest energy corporations, in 1995 as chair and chief executive.
In 2000 he was selected as Bush's running mate for the executive branch. Contentiously, during the military campaign, Halliburton was given US deals totaling multiple billions.
It greatly increased his wealth. His yearly earnings during his tenure at the corporation rose from his $258,394 while Pentagon chief to over four million. When he resigned in 2000 he had a package worth more than $20m|twenty
