The former US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who has died at age 84, was seen as one of the most influential holders of that office in American history. Although numerous second-in-commands had to settle for peripheral or symbolic functions, Cheney held enormous sway during the presidency of George W Bush, to the point that he was commonly described as the "true president".
Bush objected to such a characterisation and stated the relationship was more complicated. He observed that Cheney was deferential, invariably referring to him in public as the President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush questioned even portrayals of their partnership as a collaboration because it indicated that they were on equal footing. Regardless of these objections, Cheney found the relaxed president pliable on a wide array of administrative determinations.
The Aftermath of 9/11
Leading of a contingent of neo-conservatives that included military head Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in response to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. At the time of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been participating in a meeting at a school in Florida. As Bush made his way to a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, directing the shooting down of any unidentified airplanes approaching the government building.
Cheney claimed the attacks altered his perspective, leading him to become intent on retaliation. Together with other neo-cons, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a occupation of Afghanistan in an attempt to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then pressed fiercely for the invasion of Iraq, even though there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein having involvement.
Debated Decisions
He showed no remorse about the invasion, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis perished, and not about the enhanced interrogation of individuals captured after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was founded on misleading reports echoed by Cheney, was the correct course of action. "It represented the proper decision to do then. I had faith back then and I hold that view presently."
But even then, there were opposing views at a senior level about the botched execution of Iraq. One of the government's own special envoys to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the post. "I saw, as a baseline," he later wrote "true dereliction, negligence, and unaccountability: at worst, falsehoods, incompetence, and dishonesty."
Broader Context
Cheney was not solely to blame for the Iraq campaign. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for comparable steps. He had drafted a memorandum outlining circumstances in which American interests might be endangered (including "availability of crucial commodities, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "the US should be prepared to operate alone when joint efforts cannot be arranged," specifically citing military moves against Iraq.
Bush additionally had entered the Oval Office somewhat determined on executing what his father had specifically avoided to do in 1991; remove Saddam. After he had been sacked by the president, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill disclosed how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had announced his intention of diminishing America's involvement in the regional tensions and proposed defense operations against Iraq.
Bush carried a individual resentment against Saddam, believing he had been responsible for a conspiracy to kill his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He also objected to that one of the largest establishments in Baghdad had a floor mural with a likeness of his predecessor's visage that each person had to walk over.
Investigation Approaches
However it was Cheney who was among the most vehement supporting attacking Iraq, repeatedly referencing intelligence reports that were both weak or entirely misleading. He supported what the Bush government euphemistically referred to as "intensive questioning", the application of interrogation method and physical pressure.
Responding to a Senate report in 2014 that concluded that no actionable intelligence had come from the interrogation methods, Cheney disregarded the report as "loaded with crap". He told Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to implement measures and establish procedures to catch the individuals who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it never happened again. That's exactly what they did and they merit a lot of praise."
External Perception
Cheney took pleasure in monikers imposed on him by opponents such as Darth Vader and the sinister presence, and by the notion that he was a sinister influence manipulating Bush. In the journalist's 2013 volume about the duo, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is cited as commenting: "Do I represent the malevolent mastermind in the background that operates invisibly leave his lair? It's a advantageous way to work, actually."
Commercial Ties
Controversy over his business interests pursued him during his tenure as second-in-command. Even though he had limited background in commerce but good contacts in military, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial oil and gas conglomerates, in 1995 as chair and top executive.
In 2000 he became Bush's running mate for the presidency. Debatably, during the military campaign, Halliburton was granted US deals totaling multiple billions.
It made him rich. His yearly earnings during his period at the company increased from his quarter-million dollars during his time as military head to $4.4m. When he resigned in 2000 he had a package valued at over $20m|twenty
