The late US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who has died at the age of 84, was seen as among the most powerful incumbents of that office in American history. Although numerous VPs were confined to peripheral or ceremonial positions, Cheney exercised huge influence during the presidency of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was commonly described as the "actual president".
Bush objected to this portrayal and said the relationship was more nuanced. He observed that Cheney was respectful, always referring to him in official appearances as President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush questioned even descriptions of their partnership as a team because it indicated that they were equals. Regardless of such protestations, Cheney found the laidback president accommodating on a wide array of governmental choices.
A Post-9/11 Era
In charge of a group of conservative hawks that encompassed defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in response to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. During of the 9/11 assault, Bush had been participating in a meeting at a elementary school in Florida. As Bush headed for a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, ordering the downing of any non-communicating aircraft approaching the government building.
Cheney said the assaults altered his perspective, causing him to be focused on retribution. Along with other neo-conservatives, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a occupation of Afghanistan in an attempt to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the invasion of Iraq, though there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Debated Policies
He expressed no regrets about the invasion, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis died, and not about the harsh treatment of individuals rounded up after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was based on faulty reports circulated by Cheney, was the proper path to take. "It was the correct action to do at that time. I was convinced back then and I hold that view presently."
However during that period, there were opposing views at a high level about the botched execution of Iraq. One of the administration's own delegates to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the position. "I witnessed, at the very least," he subsequently stated "obvious failure, negligence, and recklessness: potentially, falsehoods, incompetence, and corruption."
Additional Factors
Cheney was not completely accountable for the Iraq invasion. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for similar measures. He had drafted a memo setting out circumstances in which national priorities might be threatened (encompassing "access to crucial commodities, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "America should be postured to act independently when cooperative measures prove impossible," specifically referencing defense operations against Iraq.
Bush also had assumed the White House somewhat determined on carrying out what his parent had specifically avoided to do in 1991; remove Saddam. Following he had been dismissed by the White House, 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 reducing America's engagement in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and suggested military action against Iraq.
Bush bore a individual resentment against Saddam, believing he had been behind a conspiracy to murder his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally resented that one of the biggest accommodations in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a likeness of his parent's visage that each person had to walk over.
Questioning Techniques
But it was Cheney who was among the most vociferous supporting invading Iraq, consistently citing intelligence reports that were whether weak or totally misleading. He backed what the Bush White House indirectly described as "enhanced interrogation", the application of simulated drowning and harsh treatment.
Responding to a Senate analysis in 2014 that concluded that no actionable intelligence had come from the harsh techniques, Cheney disregarded the findings as "riddled with crap". He stated to Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to establish protocols and create programmes to apprehend the individuals who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it never happened again. That was specifically what they did and they deserve a lot of credit."
External Perception
Cheney enjoyed nicknames imposed on him by detractors such as the dark character and the dark figure, and by the idea that he was a shadow power directing Bush. In Peter Baker's 2013 volume about the pair, 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 background that remains unseen emerge from his hole? This represents a nice way to work, in fact."
Commercial Ties
Dispute over his business interests followed him throughout his time as vice-president. Even though he had little experience in corporate affairs but good contacts in military, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial petroleum companies, in 1995 as leader and chief executive.
In 2000 he was selected as Bush's election partner for the executive branch. Contentiously, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was granted US deals valued at substantial sums.
It made him rich. His annual income during his tenure at the corporation rose from his quarter-million dollars while military head to millions. When he departed in 2000 he had a compensation package totaling over $20m|twenty
