The former US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who has died at age 84, was regarded as arguably the most powerful holders of that position in the nation's history. While countless second-in-commands were confined to peripheral or figurehead positions, Cheney held substantial power during the administration of George W Bush, so much so that he was frequently referred to as the "actual president".
Bush resented that description and claimed the dynamic was more complex. He observed that Cheney was courteous, consistently calling him in public settings as Mr President, while he called him as Dick. Bush questioned even descriptions of their partnership as a collaboration because it implied that they were peers. Regardless of such protestations, Cheney found the laidback president malleable on a broad range of policy decisions.
A Post-9/11 Era
At the head of a contingent of conservative hawks that featured Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the invasion of Iraq in 2003 in response to the September 11th attacks on New York and Washington. At the time of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been participating in a gathering at a school in Florida. While Bush traveled to a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney took command, commanding the destruction of any non-communicating planes heading toward the government building.
Cheney said the attacks changed him, making him become intent on revenge. Along with other neo-cons, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a occupation of Afghanistan in an endeavor to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then pressed fiercely for the invasion of Iraq, even though there was little proof of Saddam Hussein having involvement.
Disputed Policies
He expressed no regrets about the armed intervention, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis died, or about the enhanced interrogation of detainees captured after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was predicated on misleading intelligence repeated by Cheney, was the correct course of action. "It proved to be the right thing to do at that time. I was convinced at the time and I believe it today."
But even then, there were contrary opinions at a senior level about the botched execution of Iraq. One of the government's own representatives to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the position. "I saw, as a baseline," he wrote later "true dereliction, inaction, and irresponsibility: potentially, deception, incompetence, and dishonesty."
Additional Factors
Cheney was not solely responsible for the Iraq invasion. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for such action. He had composed a document detailing situations in which American interests might be threatened (encompassing "obtaining vital raw materials, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "America should be positioned to take unilateral action when cooperative measures prove impossible," specifically referencing military moves against Iraq.
Bush additionally had assumed the Oval Office somewhat determined on implementing what his predecessor had specifically avoided to do in 1991; topple Saddam. Following he had been fired by the White House, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill disclosed how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his intention of diminishing America's participation in the regional tensions and mooted defense operations against Iraq.
Bush bore a personal grudge against Saddam, believing he had been responsible for a plot to kill his father, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore resented that one of the most prominent establishments in Baghdad had a ground design with a likeness of his parent's face that all visitors had to step on.
Questioning Techniques
However it was Cheney who was one of the most vehement advocating striking Iraq, consistently citing agency briefings that were both weak or entirely misleading. He supported what the Bush White House euphemistically referred to as "intensive questioning", the use of simulated drowning and torture.
Addressing a Senate document in 2014 that found that no actionable intelligence had come from the harsh techniques, Cheney disregarded the report as "riddled with crap". He told Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to take steps and establish procedures to apprehend the individuals who took the lives of 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it was not repeated. That's exactly what they did and they deserve a lot of praise."
External Perception
Cheney reveled in monikers imposed on him by detractors such as the dark character and the dark figure, and by the concept that he was a dark force directing Bush. In Peter Baker's 2013 publication about the pair, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is reported as stating: "Am I the sinister strategist in the background that operates invisibly come out of his hole? That is a advantageous way to function, truthfully."
Business Interests
Debate over his business interests accompanied him through his period as second-in-command. Even though he had little experience in corporate affairs but good contacts in defence, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's biggest oil and gas conglomerates, in 1995 as chair and CEO.
In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's running mate for the executive branch. Debatably, during the military campaign, Halliburton was given US agreements totaling multiple billions.
It made him rich. His yearly earnings during his time at the corporation rose from his $258,394 when he was military head to millions. When he resigned in 2000 he had a package totaling more than $20m|twenty
