The late US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who has died at age 84, was considered one of the most significant incumbents of that position in the nation's history. While numerous second-in-commands had to settle for peripheral or symbolic roles, Cheney wielded huge sway during the presidency of George W Bush, so much so that he was commonly described as the "true president".
Bush disliked that description and said the relationship was more complex. He observed that Cheney was deferential, consistently referring to him in public as President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush challenged even portrayals of their association as a team because it suggested that they were peers. Despite these objections, Cheney considered the relaxed president pliable on a broad range of governmental choices.
The Period Following the Attacks
Leading of a contingent of neo-cons that featured defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in response to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. At the time of the 9/11 strike, Bush had been participating in a gathering at a educational institution in Florida. As Bush headed for a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney took command, directing the downing of any non-communicating planes heading toward the US Capitol.
Cheney stated the strikes transformed him, making him become intent on revenge. In conjunction with other conservative figures, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a occupation of Afghanistan in an effort to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the armed intervention of Iraq, although there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Debated Policies
He voiced no apologies about the military campaign, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis died, nor about the waterboarding of individuals captured after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was predicated on misleading reports circulated by Cheney, was the proper path to take. "It represented the right thing to do back then. I was convinced at the time and I hold that view now."
Yet even at the time, there were dissenting voices at a senior level about the poor management of Iraq. One of the government's own delegates to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the role. "I observed, as a baseline," he later wrote "obvious failure, inaction, and unaccountability: potentially, deception, incompetence, and dishonesty."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not solely responsible for the Iraq military action. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for comparable steps. He had composed a memorandum setting out scenarios in which American interests might be compromised (encompassing "access to crucial commodities, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "the US should be postured to act independently when cooperative measures prove impossible," specifically citing armed actions against Iraq.
Bush also had assumed the White House generally inclined on executing what his predecessor had famously refused to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. After he had been dismissed by the administration, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his intention of lowering America's involvement in the regional tensions and mooted armed intervention against Iraq.
Bush held a private grievance against Saddam, thinking he had been behind a conspiracy to kill his father, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore resented that one of the biggest hotels in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a image of his parent's visage that all visitors had to tread upon.
Interrogation Methods
However it was Cheney who was among the most vehement supporting striking Iraq, repeatedly quoting information documents that were both insubstantial or completely misleading. He supported what the Bush White House euphemistically referred to as "enhanced interrogation", the application of simulated drowning and harsh treatment.
Addressing a Senate document in 2014 that determined that no valuable data had resulted from the harsh techniques, Cheney dismissed the conclusions as "loaded with crap". He told Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to take steps and put in place initiatives to apprehend the bastards who took the lives of 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it would not recur. That was specifically what they did and they earn a lot of recognition."
Public Persona
Cheney reveled in monikers given to him by critics such as Darth Vader and the dark figure, and by the concept that he was a sinister influence directing Bush. In Peter Baker's 2013 volume about the duo, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is quoted as saying: "Is it me who is the sinister strategist in the corner that remains unseen leave his hole? That is a nice way to operate, actually."
Corporate Connections
Dispute over his commercial relationships pursued him during his tenure as vice-president. While he had limited background in commerce but good contacts in security, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's biggest energy corporations, in 1995 as chair and top executive.
In 2000 he became Bush's election partner for the White House. Debatably, during the military campaign, Halliburton was given US deals valued at multiple billions.
It significantly boosted his finances. His yearly compensation during his period at the corporation increased from his quarter-million dollars during his time as defence secretary to $4.4m. When he departed in 2000 he had a severance arrangement valued at over $20m|twenty
