The deceased US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who has died at age 84, was considered arguably the most powerful holders of the vice-presidency in US history. While numerous VPs were limited to marginal or figurehead functions, Cheney exercised enormous sway during the administration of George W Bush, to the point that he was often referred to as the "actual president".
Bush resented this portrayal and stated the dynamic was more complicated. He observed that Cheney was courteous, consistently referring to him in official appearances as Mr President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush challenged even characterisations of their association as a partnership because it indicated that they were on equal footing. In spite of these objections, Cheney found the relaxed president pliable on a wide array of policy decisions.
The Aftermath of 9/11
In charge of a group of neo-cons that encompassed military head Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the military intervention of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the September 11th attacks on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 strike, Bush had been attending a gathering at a elementary school in Florida. Whereas Bush traveled to a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, commanding the destruction of any unidentified aircraft heading toward the US Capitol.
Cheney stated the attacks altered his perspective, causing him to be focused on revenge. Together with other conservative figures, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a takeover of Afghanistan in an effort to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the invasion of Iraq, even though there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Controversial Policies
He expressed no regrets about the military campaign, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, nor about the harsh treatment of detainees captured after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was based on faulty information circulated by Cheney, was the proper course of action. "It represented the proper decision to do then. I believed it back then and I believe it today."
But even then, there were opposing views at a senior level about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the administration's own special envoys to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the position. "I observed, as a baseline," he subsequently stated "true dereliction, carelessness, and irresponsibility: at worst, deception, incompetence, and corruption."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not completely accountable for the Iraq campaign. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for such action. He had written a memorandum setting out scenarios in which American interests might be compromised (encompassing "availability of essential resources, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "the United States should be postured to take unilateral action when cooperative measures cannot be orchestrated," explicitly referencing military moves against Iraq.
Bush too had arrived in the presidency vaguely intent on executing what his parent had specifically avoided to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. Subsequent to he had been fired by the administration, the finance chief Paul O'Neill disclosed how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his plan of reducing America's participation in the Middle East dispute and proposed military action against Iraq.
Bush bore a individual resentment against Saddam, convinced he had been behind a conspiracy to assassinate his father, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore disliked that one of the biggest establishments in Baghdad had a ground design with a image of his parent's face that everyone had to tread upon.
Investigation Approaches
But it was Cheney who was part of the most outspoken behind striking Iraq, consistently referencing intelligence reports that were either insubstantial or totally inaccurate. He endorsed what the Bush government politely called as "intensive questioning", the use of interrogation method and physical pressure.
Answering a Senate document in 2014 that found that no useful information had come from the harsh techniques, Cheney disregarded the report as "riddled with crap". He stated to Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to take steps and put in place programmes to capture the bastards who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it never happened again. That was specifically what they did and they earn a lot of praise."
Public Persona
Cheney reveled in labels assigned to him by critics such as the dark character and the sinister presence, and by the concept that he was a dark force directing Bush. In Peter Baker's 2013 book about the duo, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is cited as commenting: "Is it me who is the evil genius in the corner that operates invisibly come out of his hole? That is a effective way to work, truthfully."
Business Interests
Debate over his corporate affiliations pursued him during his tenure as second-in-command. Although he had minimal expertise in corporate affairs but established relationships in military, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's biggest oil and gas companies, in 1995 as leader and CEO.
In 2000 he became Bush's VP candidate for the presidency. Contentiously, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was granted US contracts totaling substantial sums.
It significantly boosted his finances. His yearly earnings during his period at the firm rose from his previous salary during his time as military head to millions. When he resigned in 2000 he had a package valued at in excess of $20m|twenty
