The late US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who has died at age 84, was seen as one of the most powerful incumbents of that position in US history. Whereas numerous second-in-commands were limited to minor or figurehead roles, Cheney wielded substantial sway during the term of George W Bush, so much so that he was frequently described as the "true president".
Bush objected to that description and claimed the dynamic was more nuanced. He pointed out that Cheney was courteous, invariably addressing him in public as the President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush disputed even descriptions of their association as a partnership because it suggested that they were equals. Regardless of these denials, Cheney found the relaxed president accommodating on a whole raft of governmental choices.
A Post-9/11 Era
In charge of a contingent of neo-cons that included military head Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the military intervention of Iraq in 2003 in reaction to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. During of the 9/11 strike, Bush had been participating in a session at a school in Florida. Whereas Bush traveled to a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney took command, ordering the destruction of any unresponsive airplanes heading toward the US Capitol.
Cheney stated the assaults transformed him, causing him to be intent on retaliation. Together with other neo-cons, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a invasion of Afghanistan in an effort to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the armed intervention of Iraq, although there was little proof of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Disputed Policies
He voiced no apologies about the military campaign, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis perished, and not about the harsh treatment of detainees rounded up after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was founded on faulty reports echoed by Cheney, was the correct course of action. "It represented the correct action to do at that time. I believed it at the time and I maintain that stance today."
But during that period, there were dissenting voices at a top tier about the poor management of Iraq. One of the government's own representatives to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the position. "I saw, as a baseline," he subsequently stated "obvious failure, carelessness, and unaccountability: at worst, deception, ineptitude, and graft."
Additional Factors
Cheney was not solely accountable for the Iraq campaign. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for similar measures. He had composed a memorandum outlining circumstances in which national priorities might be threatened (featuring "availability of crucial commodities, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "the United States should be prepared to act independently when joint efforts prove impossible," explicitly mentioning military moves against Iraq.
Bush additionally had assumed the White House vaguely intent on carrying out what his parent had notably declined to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. Following he had been fired by the White House, the finance chief Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the first meeting of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his objective of lowering America's engagement in the regional tensions and proposed defense operations against Iraq.
Bush carried a private grievance against Saddam, believing he had been involved in a plot to murder his parent, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore resented that one of the most prominent hotels in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a image of his parent's countenance that everyone had to step on.
Questioning Techniques
However it was Cheney who was one of the most vociferous supporting striking Iraq, consistently citing information documents that were either thin or entirely misleading. He supported what the Bush administration euphemistically referred to as "intensive questioning", the application of waterboarding and harsh treatment.
Addressing a Senate analysis in 2014 that found that no actionable intelligence had come from the torture, Cheney dismissed the findings as "loaded with crap". He informed Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to take steps and establish programmes to catch the individuals who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it was not repeated. That is precisely what they did and they earn a lot of credit."
External Perception
Cheney took pleasure in nicknames assigned to him by detractors such as the dark character and The Prince of Darkness, and by the concept that he was a sinister influence controlling Bush. In the author's 2013 book about the duo, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is cited as commenting: "Am I the sinister strategist in the corner that remains unseen come out of his domain? This represents a nice way to function, in fact."
Corporate Connections
Controversy over his corporate affiliations pursued him during his tenure as vice-president. While he had little experience in corporate affairs but strong connections in defence, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial petroleum companies, in 1995 as chair and chief executive.
In 2000 he became Bush's election partner for the presidency. Controversially, during the military campaign, Halliburton was awarded US agreements worth substantial sums.
It greatly increased his wealth. His yearly compensation during his time at the company grew from his $258,394 during his time as defence secretary to millions. When he resigned in 2000 he had a severance arrangement worth over $20m|twenty
