The deceased US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who has died at age 84, was regarded as one of the most influential holders of that office in American history. While numerous second-in-commands were limited to minor or symbolic positions, Cheney exercised enormous power during the administration of George W Bush, to the point that he was often referred to as the "real president".
Bush resented this portrayal and claimed the dynamic was more complex. He pointed out that Cheney was respectful, consistently referring to him in public as President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush challenged even portrayals of their association as a team because it suggested that they were equals. Regardless of these denials, Cheney found the easygoing president accommodating on a whole raft of governmental choices.
A Aftermath of 9/11
In charge of a faction of conservative hawks that included Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. During of the 9/11 strike, Bush had been attending a meeting at a school in Florida. Whereas Bush traveled to a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, directing the shooting down of any non-communicating airplanes nearing the government building.
Cheney said the attacks transformed him, causing him to be intent on revenge. Together with other conservative figures, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a invasion of Afghanistan in an attempt to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the military action of Iraq, though there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein having involvement.
Debated Decisions
He showed no remorse about the armed intervention, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis perished, and not about the enhanced interrogation of detainees captured after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was based on inaccurate intelligence echoed by Cheney, was the proper course of action. "It proved to be the correct action to do at that time. I was convinced at the time and I hold that view today."
However during that period, there were contrary opinions at a top tier about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the White House's own representatives to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the position. "I witnessed, at a minimum," he wrote later "clear negligence, negligence, and recklessness: at worst, lying, incompetence, and corruption."
Broader Context
Cheney was not completely responsible for the Iraq campaign. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for similar measures. He had composed a document setting out situations in which American interests might be threatened (featuring "availability of essential resources, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "America should be prepared to act independently when cooperative measures cannot be arranged," particularly referencing armed actions against Iraq.
Bush additionally had assumed the presidency somewhat determined on implementing what his predecessor had notably declined to do in 1991; remove Saddam. Subsequent to he had been fired by the White House, the finance chief Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the first meeting of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had announced his intention of lowering America's participation in the regional tensions and mooted armed intervention against Iraq.
Bush held a personal grudge against Saddam, believing he had been involved in a plot to kill his parent, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally objected to that one of the largest establishments in Baghdad had a floor mural with a image of his predecessor's face that all visitors had to walk over.
Questioning Techniques
However it was Cheney who was among the most vehement behind invading Iraq, frequently quoting information documents that were both weak or totally deceptive. He backed what the Bush government politely called as "enhanced interrogation", the application of waterboarding and harsh treatment.
Responding to a Senate document in 2014 that determined that no actionable intelligence had come from the interrogation methods, Cheney disregarded the findings as "loaded with crap". He stated to Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to establish protocols and put in place initiatives to apprehend the perpetrators who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it would not recur. That is precisely what they did and they earn a lot of credit."
Public Persona
Cheney took pleasure in labels given to him by critics such as the dark character and The Prince of Darkness, and by the concept that he was a dark force controlling Bush. In Peter Baker's 2013 publication about the two, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is cited as commenting: "Am I the malevolent mastermind in the corner that remains unseen come out of his lair? It's a advantageous way to function, actually."
Corporate Connections
Dispute over his business interests accompanied him during his tenure as vice-president. While he had limited background in business but established relationships in military, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial oil and gas conglomerates, in 1995 as chair and top executive.
In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's running mate for the executive branch. Controversially, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was granted US agreements totaling billions.
It greatly increased his wealth. His yearly compensation during his time at the company grew from his quarter-million dollars when he was defence secretary to millions. When he left in 2000 he had a severance arrangement valued at over $20m|twenty
