The former US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who has died at age 84, was regarded as among the most significant incumbents of that office in US history. While countless vice-presidents had to settle for marginal or symbolic functions, Cheney wielded enormous power during the term of George W Bush, to the point that he was frequently referred to as the "actual president".
Bush disliked such a characterisation and claimed the connection was more nuanced. He observed that Cheney was deferential, invariably referring to him in official appearances as President, while he called him as Dick. Bush challenged even descriptions of their association as a collaboration because it indicated that they were equals. Despite these objections, Cheney found the relaxed president accommodating on a whole raft of governmental choices.
The Post-9/11 Era
In charge of a faction 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 terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. At the time of the 9/11 assault, Bush had been attending a gathering at a school in Florida. Whereas Bush traveled to a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, ordering the downing of any unidentified planes approaching the Capitol building.
Cheney claimed the assaults transformed him, causing him to be intent on retaliation. In conjunction with other neo-cons, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a invasion of Afghanistan in an attempt to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the armed intervention of Iraq, even though there was little proof of Saddam Hussein having involvement.
Controversial Policies
He expressed no regrets about the armed intervention, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis perished, nor about the harsh treatment of suspects apprehended after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was founded on faulty reports circulated by Cheney, was the right course of action. "It proved to be the correct action to do then. I believed it back then and I believe it now."
But even then, there were dissenting voices at a senior level about the botched execution of Iraq. One of the government's own representatives to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the post. "I witnessed, as a baseline," he later wrote "true dereliction, carelessness, and unaccountability: in the worst case, deception, unfitness, and graft."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not completely accountable for the Iraq campaign. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for similar measures. He had composed a memorandum detailing situations in which American interests might be compromised (featuring "availability of crucial commodities, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "the US should be postured to operate alone when joint efforts cannot be arranged," specifically mentioning armed actions against Iraq.
Bush additionally had assumed the Oval Office vaguely intent on implementing what his father had notably declined to do in 1991; topple Saddam. Subsequent to he had been sacked by the president, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill disclosed how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had announced his objective of lowering America's engagement in the Middle East dispute and mooted defense operations against Iraq.
Bush carried a individual resentment against Saddam, convinced he had been behind a scheme to assassinate his predecessor, 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 parent's countenance that all visitors had to tread upon.
Questioning Techniques
However it was Cheney who was among the most outspoken advocating invading Iraq, repeatedly citing agency briefings that were both insubstantial or entirely misleading. He backed what the Bush government indirectly described as "intensive questioning", the application of simulated drowning and physical pressure.
Responding to a Senate analysis in 2014 that determined that no valuable data had resulted from the harsh techniques, Cheney rejected the report as "full of crap". He informed Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to take steps and create procedures to capture the perpetrators who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it would not recur. That's exactly what they did and they earn a lot of credit."
Public Persona
Cheney took pleasure in monikers assigned to him by critics such as Darth Vader and The Prince of Darkness, and by the notion that he was a sinister influence controlling Bush. In Peter Baker's 2013 book about the two, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is cited as commenting: "Am I the evil genius in the corner that remains unseen emerge from his hole? It's a effective way to work, truthfully."
Corporate Connections
Debate over his commercial relationships accompanied him throughout his time as VP. While he had little experience in business but good contacts in military, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's biggest oil and gas companies, in 1995 as leader and top executive.
In 2000 he became Bush's VP candidate for the presidency. Contentiously, during the military campaign, Halliburton was given US agreements worth substantial sums.
It significantly boosted his finances. His annual income during his tenure at the firm increased from his $258,394 when he was Pentagon chief to $4.4m. When he departed in 2000 he had a compensation package totaling over $20m|twenty
