The deceased US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who has died at the age of 84, was considered arguably the most influential holders of the vice-presidency in US history. While numerous VPs were confined to peripheral or symbolic roles, Cheney exercised enormous influence during the administration of George W Bush, so much so that he was frequently called as the "actual president".
Bush disliked such a characterisation and claimed the dynamic was more nuanced. He pointed out that Cheney was courteous, consistently referring to him in public settings as the President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush disputed even characterisations of their relationship as a collaboration because it suggested that they were peers. In spite of these objections, Cheney viewed the laidback president accommodating on a whole raft of administrative determinations.
A Post-9/11 Era
Leading of a group of conservative hawks that encompassed defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in reaction to the September 11th attacks on New York and Washington. At the time of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been taking part in a gathering at a school in Florida. As Bush traveled to a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, ordering the downing of any non-communicating airplanes approaching the Capitol building.
Cheney said the attacks changed him, leading him to become determined on revenge. Along with other neo-conservatives, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a takeover of Afghanistan in an attempt to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the military action of Iraq, even though there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein having involvement.
Disputed Decisions
He showed no remorse about the invasion, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis perished, nor about the waterboarding of suspects captured after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was predicated on misleading intelligence circulated by Cheney, was the right path to take. "It proved to be the correct action to do back then. I believed it back then and I maintain that stance now."
However even then, there were dissenting voices at a senior level about the poor management of Iraq. One of the White House's own special envoys to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the post. "I saw, at the very least," he subsequently stated "true dereliction, inaction, and irresponsibility: at worst, lying, unfitness, and corruption."
Broader Context
Cheney was not completely accountable for the Iraq military action. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for comparable steps. He had written a memorandum outlining circumstances in which national priorities might be threatened (including "obtaining crucial commodities, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "the US should be positioned to act independently when collective action cannot be arranged," specifically referencing military moves against Iraq.
Bush additionally had assumed the presidency vaguely intent on executing what his father had famously refused to do in 1991; remove Saddam. After he had been sacked by the president, the finance chief Paul O'Neill disclosed 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 Middle East dispute and mooted armed intervention against Iraq.
Bush bore a personal grudge against Saddam, convinced he had been responsible for a scheme to assassinate his parent, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally resented that one of the most prominent establishments in Baghdad had a ground design with a likeness of his father's visage that everyone had to tread upon.
Investigation Approaches
Yet it was Cheney who was part of the most outspoken supporting striking Iraq, frequently citing information documents that were whether weak or entirely misleading. He supported what the Bush White House politely called as "intensive questioning", the application of simulated drowning and harsh treatment.
Addressing a Senate report in 2014 that found that no valuable data had come from the interrogation methods, Cheney disregarded the findings as "loaded with crap". He told Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to take steps and establish initiatives to apprehend the bastards who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it would not recur. That was specifically what they did and they deserve a lot of praise."
Public Persona
Cheney enjoyed nicknames assigned to him by critics such as the Star Wars villain and the sinister presence, and by the idea that he was a sinister influence directing Bush. In the author'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 evil genius in the shadows that nobody ever sees leave his hole? It's a nice way to operate, in fact."
Corporate Connections
Controversy over his business interests followed him during his tenure as vice-president. While he had little experience in commerce but strong connections in military, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's largest oil and gas corporations, in 1995 as chairman and CEO.
In 2000 he became Bush's VP candidate for the executive branch. Debatably, during the military campaign, Halliburton was given US contracts totaling multiple billions.
It greatly increased his wealth. His yearly compensation during his time at the firm rose from his previous salary during his time as Pentagon chief to over four million. When he left in 2000 he had a package valued at in excess of $20m|twenty
