The late US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who has died at the age of 84, was considered arguably the most significant holders of that office in American history. While numerous second-in-commands were confined to peripheral or ceremonial functions, Cheney exercised enormous influence during the presidency of George W Bush, so much so that he was frequently referred to as the "real president".
Bush disliked this portrayal and claimed the relationship was more complex. He noted that Cheney was courteous, invariably addressing him in public as Mr President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush challenged even descriptions of their association as a team because it suggested that they were equals. In spite of these objections, Cheney viewed the laidback president accommodating on a broad range of governmental choices.
A Post-9/11 Era
Leading of a contingent of neo-cons that encompassed defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the military intervention of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 assault, Bush had been attending a meeting at a educational institution in Florida. As Bush headed for a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, directing the downing of any unidentified planes nearing the government building.
Cheney claimed the strikes transformed him, making him become focused on retaliation. Together 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 invasion of Iraq, though there was little proof of Saddam Hussein having involvement.
Controversial Policies
He expressed no regrets about the armed intervention, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis died, and not about the harsh treatment of individuals captured after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was founded on inaccurate information repeated by Cheney, was the correct decision. "It proved to be the correct action to do then. I believed it at the time and I believe it today."
Yet even at the time, there were contrary opinions at a senior level about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the government's own special envoys to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the role. "I witnessed, at the very least," he later wrote "obvious failure, inaction, and unaccountability: at worst, lying, incompetence, and corruption."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not solely to blame for the Iraq campaign. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for similar measures. He had drafted a memorandum setting out circumstances in which American interests might be threatened (encompassing "availability of essential resources, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "the US should be postured to take unilateral action when joint efforts prove impossible," particularly mentioning military moves against Iraq.
Bush too had entered the presidency vaguely intent on carrying out what his predecessor had notably declined to do in 1991; remove Saddam. Subsequent to he had been sacked by the administration, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill disclosed how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his objective of lowering America's participation in the Middle East dispute and proposed military action against Iraq.
Bush carried a private grievance against Saddam, believing he had been behind a conspiracy to kill his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally resented that one of the biggest hotels in Baghdad had a floor mural with a image of his father's countenance that each person had to walk over.
Questioning Techniques
Yet it was Cheney who was part of the most vehement supporting invading Iraq, repeatedly quoting intelligence reports that were whether thin or completely deceptive. He supported what the Bush administration indirectly described as "enhanced interrogation", the employment of interrogation method and physical pressure.
Answering a Senate analysis in 2014 that found that no valuable data had resulted from the harsh techniques, Cheney rejected the findings as "riddled with crap". He told Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to take steps and establish procedures to apprehend the individuals who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it would not recur. That was specifically what they did and they earn a lot of praise."
External Perception
Cheney reveled in nicknames assigned to him by detractors such as the dark character and The Prince of Darkness, and by the concept that he was a shadow power directing Bush. In the author's 2013 publication about the two, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is cited as commenting: "Am I the sinister strategist in the background that operates invisibly leave his hole? That is a nice way to operate, truthfully."
Corporate Connections
Dispute over his commercial relationships accompanied him through his period as VP. Although he had minimal expertise in corporate affairs but established relationships in security, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's biggest petroleum companies, in 1995 as leader and chief executive.
In 2000 he was selected as Bush's election partner for the executive branch. Controversially, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was awarded US deals valued at substantial sums.
It significantly boosted his finances. His annual income during his tenure at the firm increased from his previous salary when he was defence secretary to over four million. When he left in 2000 he had a severance arrangement totaling more than $20m|twenty
