The deceased US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who has died at age 84, was regarded as among the most influential occupants of that office in the nation's history. While countless vice-presidents were limited to marginal or ceremonial functions, Cheney held huge power during the presidency of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was frequently referred to as the "true president".
Bush objected to that description and stated the connection was more nuanced. He noted that Cheney was respectful, consistently calling him in official appearances as Mr President, while he called him as Dick. Bush questioned even descriptions of their association as a partnership because it indicated that they were on equal footing. Regardless of these objections, Cheney considered the easygoing president pliable on a wide array of policy decisions.
The Aftermath of 9/11
In charge of a group of conservative hawks that included military head Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the invasion of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the September 11th attacks on New York and Washington. During of the 9/11 assault, Bush had been participating in a gathering at a elementary school in Florida. While Bush traveled to a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney took command, directing the downing of any unidentified planes nearing the Capitol building.
Cheney stated the attacks altered his perspective, making him become intent on retaliation. Along with other conservative figures, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a takeover of Afghanistan in an endeavor to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then pressed fiercely for the military action of Iraq, even though there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein playing a role.
Disputed Actions
He expressed no regrets about the military campaign, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, and not about the waterboarding of suspects rounded up after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was predicated on misleading intelligence echoed by Cheney, was the correct decision. "It proved to be the correct action to do at that time. I had faith then and I hold that view now."
But even at the time, there were contrary opinions at a top tier about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the White House's own delegates to the Middle East, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the role. "I observed, at the very least," he wrote later "clear negligence, carelessness, and irresponsibility: potentially, lying, ineptitude, and dishonesty."
Broader Context
Cheney was not completely responsible for the Iraq military action. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for similar measures. He had composed a memo setting out scenarios in which US concerns might be endangered (featuring "obtaining vital raw materials, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "America should be prepared to act independently when cooperative measures prove impossible," specifically citing defense operations against Iraq.
Bush additionally had entered the Oval Office generally inclined on implementing what his predecessor had notably declined to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. After he had been dismissed by the administration, the finance chief Paul O'Neill disclosed how, at the first meeting of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his objective of diminishing America's engagement in the Middle East dispute and proposed defense operations against Iraq.
Bush held a personal grudge against Saddam, believing he had been involved in a scheme to murder his parent, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally objected to that one of the biggest hotels in Baghdad had a floor mural with a likeness of his parent's countenance that all visitors had to tread upon.
Investigation Approaches
But it was Cheney who was part of the most vehement advocating attacking Iraq, consistently quoting intelligence reports that were whether weak or entirely misleading. He backed what the Bush government politely called as "advanced techniques", the application of interrogation method and physical pressure.
Answering a Senate analysis in 2014 that concluded that no valuable data had resulted from the harsh techniques, Cheney dismissed the report as "loaded with crap". He told Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to establish protocols and put in place programmes to apprehend the individuals who took the lives of 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it would not recur. That's exactly what they did and they merit a lot of praise."
Public Persona
Cheney enjoyed nicknames assigned to him by opponents such as Darth Vader and The Prince of Darkness, and by the notion that he was a sinister influence directing Bush. In Peter Baker's 2013 volume about the pair, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is quoted as saying: "Do I represent the sinister strategist in the shadows that remains unseen emerge from his lair? That is a nice way to operate, actually."
Business Interests
Controversy over his corporate affiliations pursued him during his tenure as second-in-command. Although he had limited background in business but established relationships in military, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial petroleum companies, in 1995 as leader and chief executive.
In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's running mate for the White House. Contentiously, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was awarded US deals valued at substantial sums.
It made him rich. His yearly compensation during his period at the corporation rose from his $258,394 while defence secretary to over four million. When he departed in 2000 he had a package totaling in excess of $20m|twenty
