The former US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who passed away at the age of 84, was regarded as among the most significant incumbents of the vice-presidency in American history. Whereas numerous second-in-commands were confined to peripheral or figurehead positions, Cheney held substantial sway during the administration of George W Bush, so much so that he was frequently referred to as the "actual president".
Bush resented that description and claimed the connection was more nuanced. He pointed out that Cheney was deferential, consistently addressing him in public settings as Mr President, while he called him as Dick. Bush challenged even descriptions of their relationship as a partnership because it implied that they were on equal footing. Regardless of such protestations, Cheney viewed the laidback president malleable on a whole raft of policy decisions.
The Aftermath of 9/11
In charge of a group of conservative hawks that included defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 strike, Bush had been attending a gathering at a educational institution in Florida. While Bush headed for a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, ordering the shooting down of any unidentified airplanes approaching the Capitol building.
Cheney stated the strikes transformed him, leading him to become focused on retribution. Together with other neo-conservatives, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a takeover of Afghanistan in an attempt to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then pressed fiercely for the invasion of Iraq, even though there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Debated Decisions
He expressed no regrets about the invasion, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, or about the enhanced interrogation of suspects rounded up after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was based on misleading information echoed by Cheney, was the proper decision. "It proved to be the correct action to do then. I was convinced at the time and I hold that view now."
However even at the time, there were dissenting voices at a high level about the botched execution of Iraq. One of the government's own special envoys to the Middle East, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the post. "I witnessed, as a baseline," he wrote later "obvious failure, negligence, and irresponsibility: at worst, lying, incompetence, and corruption."
Broader Context
Cheney was not entirely responsible for the Iraq military action. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for similar measures. He had composed a memorandum setting out situations in which national priorities might be compromised (encompassing "availability of crucial commodities, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "America should be prepared to act independently when cooperative measures cannot be orchestrated," explicitly referencing defense operations against Iraq.
Bush too had entered the presidency generally inclined on carrying out what his predecessor had specifically avoided to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. After he had been fired by the president, the finance chief Paul O'Neill disclosed how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had announced his objective of lowering America's engagement in the Middle East dispute and mooted defense operations against Iraq.
Bush held a personal grudge against Saddam, convinced he had been responsible for a scheme to kill his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore objected to that one of the most prominent hotels in Baghdad had a ground design with a image of his parent's face that all visitors had to tread upon.
Investigation Approaches
However it was Cheney who was one of the most vehement behind invading Iraq, repeatedly referencing agency briefings that were whether thin or entirely deceptive. He endorsed what the Bush government euphemistically referred to as "advanced techniques", the employment of interrogation method and physical pressure.
Addressing a Senate analysis in 2014 that determined that no actionable intelligence had been obtained through the torture, Cheney rejected the findings as "riddled with crap". He stated to Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to establish protocols and put in place programmes to apprehend the perpetrators who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it never happened again. That is precisely what they did and they earn a lot of recognition."
External Perception
Cheney reveled in nicknames given to him by detractors such as the Star Wars villain and the dark figure, and by the notion that he was a sinister influence manipulating Bush. In the journalist's 2013 book about the pair, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is cited as commenting: "Do I represent the malevolent mastermind in the corner that remains unseen emerge from his domain? This represents a nice way to operate, truthfully."
Business Interests
Dispute over his business interests followed him throughout his time as second-in-command. Even though he had little experience in business but strong connections in security, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's largest oil and gas companies, in 1995 as leader and CEO.
In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's running mate for the presidency. Controversially, during the military campaign, Halliburton was granted US agreements valued at billions.
It made him rich. His yearly compensation during his tenure at the corporation increased from his $258,394 during his time as defence secretary to millions. When he departed in 2000 he had a package worth over $20m|twenty
