The deceased US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who has died at age 84, was regarded as one of the most significant incumbents of the vice-presidency in the nation's history. Whereas countless VPs had to settle for marginal or figurehead positions, Cheney held huge influence during the administration of George W Bush, so much so that he was frequently described as the "real president".
Bush resented that description and claimed the connection was more complicated. He noted that Cheney was courteous, consistently referring to him in public settings as the President, while he called him as Dick. Bush challenged even descriptions of their association as a collaboration because it indicated that they were peers. In spite of these denials, Cheney viewed the relaxed president malleable on a wide array of administrative determinations.
The Post-9/11 Era
Leading of a faction of neo-conservatives that featured Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the military intervention of Iraq in 2003 in answer 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 educational institution in Florida. As Bush traveled to a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, commanding the destruction of any unidentified airplanes nearing the Capitol building.
Cheney claimed the attacks changed him, causing him to be determined on revenge. Together with other neo-cons, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a takeover of Afghanistan in an effort to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the military action of Iraq, even though there was little proof of Saddam Hussein having involvement.
Controversial Decisions
He expressed no regrets about the armed intervention, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, or about the harsh treatment of individuals rounded up after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was predicated on misleading intelligence repeated by Cheney, was the proper path to take. "It proved to be the proper decision to do back then. I was convinced at the time and I maintain that stance now."
But even at the time, there were dissenting voices at a senior level about the botched execution of Iraq. One of the administration's own delegates to the Middle East, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the post. "I witnessed, at the very least," he later wrote "true dereliction, carelessness, and recklessness: potentially, lying, unfitness, and dishonesty."
Additional Factors
Cheney was not completely to blame for the Iraq invasion. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for such action. He had composed a document setting out scenarios in which US concerns might be compromised (encompassing "availability of crucial commodities, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "the United States should be positioned to operate alone when collective action cannot be arranged," specifically mentioning military moves against Iraq.
Bush also had arrived in the White House generally inclined on executing what his father had famously refused to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. Subsequent to he had been fired by the administration, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his objective of reducing America's involvement in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and suggested military action against Iraq.
Bush bore a personal grudge against Saddam, believing he had been responsible for a conspiracy to assassinate his father, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He also objected to that one of the biggest establishments in Baghdad had a ground design with a portrait of his father's countenance that all visitors had to tread upon.
Questioning Techniques
But it was Cheney who was among the most outspoken supporting invading Iraq, frequently quoting information documents that were whether weak or completely misleading. He endorsed what the Bush government indirectly described as "enhanced interrogation", the application of interrogation method and physical pressure.
Responding to a Senate analysis in 2014 that concluded that no actionable intelligence had resulted from the torture, Cheney rejected the conclusions as "full of crap". He stated to Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to take steps and establish initiatives to capture the individuals who took the lives of 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 recognition."
External Perception
Cheney reveled in nicknames given to him by critics such as the dark character and the sinister presence, and by the notion that he was a dark force manipulating Bush. In the author's 2013 publication about the duo, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is reported as stating: "Am I the malevolent mastermind in the background that nobody ever sees emerge from his domain? It's a effective way to operate, actually."
Business Interests
Controversy over his business interests followed him through his period as second-in-command. Although he had minimal expertise in commerce but strong connections in security, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial energy conglomerates, in 1995 as chairman and chief executive.
In 2000 he was selected as Bush's running mate for the executive branch. Contentiously, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was awarded US contracts totaling substantial sums.
It greatly increased his wealth. His annual income during his tenure at the company increased from his $258,394 while military head to over four million. When he resigned in 2000 he had a severance arrangement totaling in excess of $20m|twenty
