The deceased US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who has died at the age of 84, was seen as one of the most significant holders of the vice-presidency in the nation's history. Although numerous second-in-commands had to settle for minor or figurehead functions, Cheney wielded enormous influence during the presidency of George W Bush, so much so that he was often called as the "true president".
Bush objected to that description and claimed the relationship was more complex. He pointed out that Cheney was courteous, invariably referring to him in public settings as the President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush challenged even descriptions of their relationship as a team because it indicated that they were peers. Regardless of these denials, Cheney viewed the relaxed president malleable on a whole raft of administrative determinations.
The Post-9/11 Era
Leading of a faction of neo-cons that featured Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the invasion of Iraq in 2003 in reaction to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 strike, Bush had been taking part in a gathering at a elementary school in Florida. As Bush headed for a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, directing the shooting down of any unidentified airplanes nearing the Capitol building.
Cheney claimed the attacks altered his perspective, making him become determined on revenge. In conjunction with other conservative figures, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a occupation of Afghanistan in an endeavor to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the invasion of Iraq, although there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein playing a role.
Debated Decisions
He voiced no apologies about the armed intervention, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis died, or about the enhanced interrogation of suspects rounded up after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was predicated on faulty reports echoed by Cheney, was the correct path to take. "It was the correct action to do back then. I believed it at the time and I maintain that stance today."
Yet during that period, there were contrary opinions at a senior level about the botched execution of Iraq. One of the White House's own delegates to the Middle East, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the role. "I observed, as a baseline," he subsequently stated "true dereliction, carelessness, and irresponsibility: at worst, falsehoods, ineptitude, and corruption."
Additional Factors
Cheney was not solely responsible for the Iraq military action. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for such action. He had written a memorandum setting out situations in which American interests might be compromised (featuring "obtaining crucial commodities, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "the United States should be postured to operate alone when joint efforts cannot be orchestrated," specifically citing defense operations against Iraq.
Bush additionally had assumed the White House somewhat determined on executing what his predecessor had notably declined to do in 1991; topple Saddam. Subsequent to he had been dismissed by the White House, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had announced his plan of diminishing America's engagement in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and mooted military action against Iraq.
Bush bore a personal grudge against Saddam, convinced he had been involved in a plot to murder his father, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore resented that one of the biggest establishments in Baghdad had a ground design with a image of his father's visage that everyone had to step on.
Investigation Approaches
But it was Cheney who was part of the most vehement advocating invading Iraq, consistently citing information documents that were either weak or totally misleading. He endorsed what the Bush government euphemistically referred to as "enhanced interrogation", the employment of simulated drowning and harsh treatment.
Addressing a Senate document in 2014 that concluded that no useful information had resulted from the interrogation methods, Cheney dismissed the report as "loaded with crap". He informed Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to implement measures and put in place initiatives to catch the bastards who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it never happened again. That was specifically what they did and they earn a lot of credit."
Public Persona
Cheney enjoyed labels given to him by critics such as the dark character and the dark figure, and by the concept that he was a sinister influence controlling Bush. In Peter Baker's 2013 publication about the duo, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is reported as stating: "Am I the sinister strategist in the background that nobody ever sees emerge from his lair? That is a effective way to function, in fact."
Corporate Connections
Controversy over his business interests followed him during his tenure as second-in-command. Although he had minimal expertise in business but established relationships in security, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's biggest oil and gas companies, in 1995 as chairman and top executive.
In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's VP candidate for the White House. Contentiously, during the military campaign, Halliburton was given US agreements worth multiple billions.
It significantly boosted his finances. His yearly compensation during his period at the corporation grew from his quarter-million dollars while military head to millions. When he left in 2000 he had a severance arrangement valued at more than $20m|twenty
