The deceased US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who has died at the age of 84, was considered one of the most influential occupants of the vice-presidency in the nation's history. Whereas countless VPs were confined to minor or symbolic functions, Cheney exercised substantial influence during the term of George W Bush, so much so that he was often called as the "real president".
Bush disliked that description and said the dynamic was more nuanced. He observed that Cheney was courteous, invariably referring to him in public settings as President, while he called him as Dick. Bush challenged even portrayals of their association as a partnership because it implied that they were equals. In spite of such protestations, Cheney found the relaxed president accommodating on a whole raft of governmental choices.
A Period Following the Attacks
Leading of a faction of neo-conservatives that featured military head Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the military intervention of Iraq in 2003 in response to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. During of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been participating in a session at a educational institution in Florida. While Bush traveled to a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney took command, ordering the downing of any non-communicating planes approaching the US Capitol.
Cheney stated the assaults transformed him, causing him to be focused on retribution. In conjunction with other neo-conservatives, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a occupation of Afghanistan in an endeavor to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the armed intervention of Iraq, though there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein playing a role.
Debated Policies
He showed no remorse about the armed intervention, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, or about the enhanced interrogation of suspects apprehended after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was founded on faulty information circulated by Cheney, was the correct path to take. "It proved to be the right thing to do back then. I was convinced then and I believe it today."
But even at the time, there were opposing views at a senior level about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the government's own special envoys to the Middle East, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the role. "I witnessed, at a minimum," he subsequently stated "true dereliction, carelessness, and unaccountability: in the worst case, deception, ineptitude, and dishonesty."
Additional Factors
Cheney was not completely responsible for the Iraq invasion. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for similar measures. He had drafted a memo setting out scenarios in which US concerns might be endangered (including "availability of crucial commodities, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "America should be positioned to operate alone when cooperative measures prove impossible," explicitly referencing military moves against Iraq.
Bush too had assumed the White House somewhat determined on implementing what his predecessor had specifically avoided to do in 1991; remove Saddam. Subsequent to he had been dismissed by the administration, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the first meeting of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his objective of diminishing America's involvement in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and mooted armed intervention against Iraq.
Bush bore a private grievance against Saddam, convinced he had been behind a plot to murder his father, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He also objected to that one of the largest accommodations in Baghdad had a ground design with a portrait of his predecessor's visage that each person had to tread upon.
Questioning Techniques
However it was Cheney who was one of the most vehement behind striking Iraq, repeatedly quoting intelligence reports that were both insubstantial or totally inaccurate. He endorsed what the Bush government euphemistically referred to as "intensive questioning", the employment of simulated drowning and torture.
Addressing a Senate analysis in 2014 that concluded that no valuable data had resulted from the harsh techniques, Cheney dismissed the findings as "riddled with crap". He informed Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to implement measures and put in place initiatives to catch the individuals who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it was not repeated. That was specifically what they did and they merit a lot of praise."
Public Persona
Cheney reveled in labels given to him by opponents such as the dark character and the sinister presence, and by the concept that he was a sinister influence directing Bush. In the journalist's 2013 book about the two, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is cited as commenting: "Do I represent the sinister strategist in the shadows that remains unseen emerge from his domain? That is a advantageous way to work, truthfully."
Business Interests
Debate over his corporate affiliations pursued him throughout his time as second-in-command. Even though he had limited background in commerce but strong connections in defence, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's largest petroleum conglomerates, in 1995 as chair and chief executive.
In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's running mate for the presidency. Debatably, during the military campaign, Halliburton was granted US contracts valued at multiple billions.
It greatly increased his wealth. His yearly compensation during his tenure at the firm rose from his quarter-million dollars while defence secretary to millions. When he resigned in 2000 he had a severance arrangement worth over $20m|twenty
