The deceased US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who has died at the age of 84, was regarded as one of the most significant occupants of the vice-presidency in the nation's history. While countless VPs were confined to peripheral or symbolic positions, Cheney exercised substantial sway during the administration of George W Bush, to the point that he was commonly called as the "actual president".
Bush objected to that description and said the relationship was more complicated. He pointed out that Cheney was respectful, always calling him in public settings as Mr President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush questioned even portrayals of their association as a collaboration because it implied that they were peers. In spite of such protestations, Cheney found the laidback president malleable on a wide array of policy decisions.
A Post-9/11 Era
At the head of a faction of neo-conservatives that featured Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the military intervention of Iraq in 2003 in reaction to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. At the time of the 9/11 strike, Bush had been taking part in a session at a school in Florida. While Bush headed for a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, commanding the destruction of any non-communicating planes heading toward the Capitol building.
Cheney said the attacks altered his perspective, leading him to become intent on retaliation. Along with other conservative figures, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a invasion of Afghanistan in an effort to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the military action of Iraq, even though there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Controversial Decisions
He voiced no apologies about the military campaign, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis perished, or about the enhanced interrogation of individuals apprehended after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was predicated on faulty information echoed by Cheney, was the correct path to take. "It represented the proper decision to do at that time. I was convinced back then and I maintain that stance presently."
Yet even then, there were contrary opinions at a top tier about the poor management of Iraq. One of the government's own representatives to the Middle East, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the role. "I observed, at a minimum," he subsequently stated "true dereliction, carelessness, and irresponsibility: at worst, deception, unfitness, and dishonesty."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not completely to blame for the Iraq invasion. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for comparable steps. He had composed a memo setting out scenarios in which national priorities might be compromised (featuring "availability of crucial commodities, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "America should be positioned to operate alone when joint efforts prove impossible," specifically citing armed actions against Iraq.
Bush also had entered the presidency vaguely intent on implementing what his parent had notably declined to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. After he had been fired by the White House, the finance chief Paul O'Neill disclosed how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his intention of diminishing America's involvement in the regional tensions and suggested defense operations against Iraq.
Bush held a private grievance against Saddam, convinced he had been behind a plot to murder his parent, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally objected to that one of the most prominent accommodations in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a image of his predecessor's countenance that everyone had to tread upon.
Interrogation Methods
But it was Cheney who was part of the most vehement supporting invading Iraq, consistently referencing agency briefings that were both insubstantial or totally misleading. He supported what the Bush administration indirectly described as "enhanced interrogation", the use of interrogation method and torture.
Addressing a Senate report in 2014 that concluded that no useful information had been obtained through the harsh techniques, Cheney dismissed the findings as "riddled with crap". He stated to Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to establish protocols and establish programmes to catch the individuals who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it would not recur. That was specifically what they did and they merit a lot of recognition."
External Perception
Cheney enjoyed labels given to him by detractors such as the dark character and the sinister presence, and by the concept that he was a dark force manipulating Bush. In the author's 2013 volume about the two, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is quoted as saying: "Do I represent the evil genius in the shadows that remains unseen emerge from his domain? It's a nice way to operate, truthfully."
Commercial Ties
Debate over his corporate affiliations followed him during his tenure as VP. Even though he had little experience in corporate affairs but good contacts in defence, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's biggest petroleum corporations, in 1995 as chair and CEO.
In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's VP candidate for the White House. Controversially, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was granted US contracts totaling multiple billions.
It greatly increased his wealth. His yearly earnings during his tenure at the firm rose from his $258,394 during his time as defence secretary to $4.4m. When he left in 2000 he had a severance arrangement valued at in excess of $20m|twenty
