The late US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who has died at age 84, was considered arguably the most powerful incumbents of that position in US history. Although many vice-presidents were limited to minor or figurehead positions, Cheney held enormous power during the administration of George W Bush, so much so that he was frequently referred to as the "true president".
Bush objected to that description and stated the dynamic was more complex. He observed that Cheney was courteous, invariably addressing him in public settings as President, while he called him as Dick. Bush challenged even portrayals of their association as a collaboration because it implied that they were peers. In spite of such protestations, Cheney considered the relaxed president malleable on a whole raft of administrative determinations.
The Period Following the Attacks
In charge of a faction of neo-cons that encompassed military head Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the military intervention of Iraq in 2003 in response to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. At the time of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been participating in a session at a school in Florida. As Bush traveled to a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, commanding the destruction of any unresponsive planes heading toward the US Capitol.
Cheney stated the assaults transformed him, making him become focused on revenge. Together with other neo-conservatives, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a takeover of Afghanistan in an attempt to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the armed intervention of Iraq, though there was little proof of Saddam Hussein having involvement.
Controversial Decisions
He voiced no apologies about the armed intervention, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis died, nor about the waterboarding of suspects apprehended after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was predicated on faulty reports echoed by Cheney, was the right path to take. "It proved to be the proper decision to do back then. I was convinced at the time and I hold that view presently."
However even then, there were opposing views at a senior level about the botched execution of Iraq. One of the government's own representatives to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the post. "I observed, at the very least," he subsequently stated "true dereliction, carelessness, and recklessness: in the worst case, falsehoods, unfitness, and graft."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not solely accountable for the Iraq campaign. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for comparable steps. He had written a memorandum detailing situations in which national priorities might be endangered (featuring "obtaining vital raw materials, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "the United States should be positioned to act independently when collective action prove impossible," explicitly citing military moves against Iraq.
Bush also had assumed the presidency somewhat determined on carrying out what his father had specifically avoided to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. After he had been sacked by the White House, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the first meeting of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his intention of reducing America's engagement in the Middle East dispute and suggested military action against Iraq.
Bush held a personal grudge against Saddam, believing he had been involved in a plot to assassinate his parent, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He also resented that one of the biggest establishments in Baghdad had a ground design with a portrait of his predecessor's countenance that everyone had to step on.
Investigation Approaches
However it was Cheney who was part of the most vociferous supporting striking Iraq, repeatedly citing information documents that were either thin or completely misleading. He supported what the Bush White House euphemistically referred to as "intensive questioning", the employment of simulated drowning and torture.
Answering a Senate report in 2014 that found that no useful information had come from the torture, Cheney rejected the conclusions as "full of crap". He told Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to take steps and establish programmes to capture the individuals who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it never happened again. That is precisely what they did and they merit a lot of credit."
External Perception
Cheney took pleasure in monikers imposed on him by critics such as Darth Vader and the sinister presence, and by the notion that he was a sinister influence manipulating Bush. In Peter Baker's 2013 publication about the duo, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is reported as stating: "Do I represent the evil genius in the shadows that nobody ever sees leave his hole? This represents a effective way to function, actually."
Commercial Ties
Dispute over his commercial relationships accompanied him during his tenure as VP. Although he had little experience in corporate affairs but established relationships in military, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial petroleum companies, in 1995 as leader and top executive.
In 2000 he became Bush's election partner for the presidency. Contentiously, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was granted US agreements totaling billions.
It greatly increased his wealth. His yearly earnings during his period at the corporation rose from his previous salary while Pentagon chief to millions. When he departed in 2000 he had a compensation package worth more than $20m|twenty
