The late US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who has died at the age of 84, was considered arguably the most influential incumbents of that position in the nation's history. Whereas countless VPs were confined to peripheral or figurehead positions, Cheney wielded huge power during the term of George W Bush, to the point that he was often called as the "real president".
Bush resented that description and claimed the relationship was more complex. He observed that Cheney was courteous, invariably calling him in public settings as the President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush challenged even descriptions of their partnership as a collaboration because it suggested that they were peers. Regardless of such protestations, Cheney viewed the relaxed president accommodating on a whole raft of administrative determinations.
A Aftermath of 9/11
Leading of a group of neo-cons that encompassed Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the invasion of Iraq in 2003 in response to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. During of the 9/11 assault, Bush had been participating in a session at a elementary school in Florida. While Bush traveled to a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney took command, commanding the downing of any unresponsive airplanes approaching the Capitol building.
Cheney said the assaults transformed him, leading him to become focused on revenge. In conjunction with other neo-cons, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a takeover of Afghanistan in an endeavor to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the armed intervention of Iraq, even though there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein having involvement.
Debated Policies
He showed no remorse about the armed intervention, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis perished, and not about the waterboarding of individuals captured after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was founded on misleading reports repeated by Cheney, was the right course of action. "It proved to be the right thing to do back then. I had faith then and I believe it presently."
However even then, there were dissenting voices at a senior level about the poor management of Iraq. One of the White House's own delegates to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the post. "I saw, at a minimum," he subsequently stated "true dereliction, negligence, and unaccountability: in the worst case, falsehoods, ineptitude, and corruption."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not completely to blame for the Iraq military action. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for such action. He had composed a document detailing scenarios in which US concerns might be compromised (including "obtaining crucial commodities, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "the US should be prepared to act independently when joint efforts prove impossible," specifically mentioning military moves against Iraq.
Bush too had assumed the Oval Office generally inclined on executing what his predecessor had notably declined to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. Following he had been fired by the president, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the first meeting of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his plan of lowering America's involvement in the Middle East dispute and proposed armed intervention against Iraq.
Bush held a personal grudge against Saddam, convinced he had been responsible for a conspiracy to assassinate his father, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally resented that one of the most prominent establishments in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a image of his parent's countenance that all visitors had to walk over.
Investigation Approaches
Yet it was Cheney who was one of the most vociferous behind striking Iraq, consistently quoting intelligence reports that were whether weak or totally deceptive. He backed what the Bush White House politely called as "intensive questioning", the use of simulated drowning and physical pressure.
Answering a Senate report in 2014 that determined that no valuable data had resulted from the harsh techniques, Cheney dismissed the report as "riddled with crap". He stated to Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to establish protocols and put in place procedures to capture the bastards who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it would not recur. That is precisely what they did and they earn a lot of recognition."
Public Persona
Cheney enjoyed monikers imposed on him by detractors such as the dark character and The Prince of Darkness, and by the concept that he was a dark force controlling Bush. In the journalist's 2013 publication about the two, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is quoted as saying: "Do I represent the malevolent mastermind in the background that operates invisibly leave his hole? It's a advantageous way to function, actually."
Business Interests
Controversy over his commercial relationships followed him throughout his time as VP. Although he had little experience in business but good contacts in military, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's largest energy companies, in 1995 as chair and chief executive.
In 2000 he was selected as Bush's election partner for the White House. Contentiously, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was given US deals totaling billions.
It made him rich. His annual income during his time at the firm increased from his quarter-million dollars during his time as Pentagon chief to $4.4m. When he left in 2000 he had a compensation package valued at more than $20m|twenty
