The late US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who has died at the age of 84, was seen as arguably the most influential holders of that position in the nation's history. Whereas numerous second-in-commands had to settle for marginal or symbolic positions, Cheney exercised huge power during the administration of George W Bush, so much so that he was often referred to as the "real president".
Bush disliked that description and claimed the relationship was more complicated. He noted that Cheney was courteous, always addressing him in public settings as President, while he called him as Dick. Bush challenged even characterisations of their association as a team because it implied that they were on equal footing. Despite these objections, Cheney viewed the relaxed president malleable on a wide array of governmental choices.
The Post-9/11 Era
Leading of a faction of conservative hawks that featured Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in reaction to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. During of the 9/11 strike, Bush had been participating in a session at a educational institution in Florida. As Bush made his way to a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, ordering the destruction of any unidentified airplanes nearing the Capitol building.
Cheney claimed the attacks transformed him, causing him to be determined on retribution. Together with other neo-cons, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a takeover of Afghanistan in an endeavor to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the invasion of Iraq, even though there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Disputed Actions
He expressed no regrets about the invasion, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis died, nor about the waterboarding of detainees apprehended after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was founded on misleading information echoed by Cheney, was the correct decision. "It was the right thing to do back then. I believed it back then and I hold that view now."
Yet even then, there were opposing views at a top tier about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the government's own delegates to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the role. "I observed, at the very least," he subsequently stated "obvious failure, inaction, and unaccountability: in the worst case, deception, unfitness, and graft."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not entirely to blame for the Iraq campaign. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for such action. He had written a document detailing situations in which American interests might be compromised (featuring "availability of vital raw materials, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "America should be postured to take unilateral action when joint efforts cannot be orchestrated," specifically mentioning armed actions against Iraq.
Bush additionally had entered the presidency vaguely intent on implementing what his predecessor had notably declined to do in 1991; topple Saddam. After he had been dismissed by the White House, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill disclosed how, at the first meeting of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had announced his objective of lowering America's engagement in the Middle East dispute and suggested military action against Iraq.
Bush bore a personal grudge against Saddam, thinking he had been involved in a conspiracy to kill his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He also resented that one of the most prominent hotels in Baghdad had a floor mural with a likeness of his father's visage that each person had to walk over.
Questioning Techniques
Yet it was Cheney who was part of the most outspoken advocating attacking Iraq, frequently citing intelligence reports that were both thin or totally inaccurate. He endorsed what the Bush White House euphemistically referred to as "advanced techniques", the employment of waterboarding and torture.
Responding to a Senate report in 2014 that determined that no valuable data had been obtained through the torture, Cheney disregarded the report as "full of crap". He stated to Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to take steps and create procedures to capture the bastards who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it would not recur. That was specifically what they did and they earn a lot of praise."
Public Persona
Cheney reveled in nicknames imposed on him by opponents such as the dark character and the dark figure, and by the notion that he was a sinister influence manipulating Bush. In the author's 2013 publication about the two, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is reported as stating: "Is it me who is the malevolent mastermind in the corner that nobody ever sees leave his lair? It's a effective way to function, in fact."
Corporate Connections
Debate over his commercial relationships accompanied him during his tenure as second-in-command. Although he had little experience in commerce but established relationships in military, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's largest oil and gas conglomerates, in 1995 as leader and top executive.
In 2000 he was selected as Bush's election partner for the presidency. Contentiously, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was given US deals valued at substantial sums.
It significantly boosted his finances. His annual income during his period at the firm increased from his previous salary during his time as military head to over four million. When he left in 2000 he had a compensation package worth more than $20m|twenty
