The former US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who has died at the age of 84, was regarded as one of the most powerful holders of that office in the nation's history. Whereas many second-in-commands had to settle for minor or ceremonial functions, Cheney wielded substantial power during the term of George W Bush, so much so that he was commonly referred to as the "real president".
Bush disliked this portrayal and said the relationship was more complicated. He noted that Cheney was deferential, invariably addressing him in official appearances as President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush questioned even descriptions of their relationship as a partnership because it suggested that they were peers. In spite of such protestations, Cheney viewed the easygoing president pliable on a wide array of governmental choices.
A Period Following the Attacks
Leading of a group of conservative hawks that featured Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in reaction to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. During of the 9/11 strike, Bush had been taking part in a gathering at a elementary school in Florida. Whereas Bush made his way to a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney took command, ordering the shooting down of any unidentified planes heading toward the US Capitol.
Cheney stated the attacks altered his perspective, causing him to be intent on retribution. In conjunction with other neo-conservatives, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a invasion of Afghanistan in an attempt to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the military action of Iraq, although there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein having involvement.
Controversial Policies
He showed no remorse about the military campaign, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis died, or about the waterboarding of suspects captured after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was founded on misleading information echoed by Cheney, was the proper decision. "It was the correct action to do at that time. I was convinced at the time and I maintain that stance today."
However even at the time, there were dissenting voices at a high level about the botched execution of Iraq. One of the White House's own representatives to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the position. "I saw, as a baseline," he wrote later "clear negligence, inaction, and recklessness: at worst, falsehoods, ineptitude, and dishonesty."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not completely responsible for the Iraq military action. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for similar measures. He had composed a memo setting out situations in which American interests might be threatened (encompassing "availability of essential resources, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "the US should be postured to operate alone when joint efforts cannot be arranged," specifically mentioning armed actions against Iraq.
Bush also had arrived in the presidency vaguely intent on carrying out what his parent had famously refused to do in 1991; remove Saddam. After he had been dismissed by the White House, the finance chief Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the first meeting of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his objective of lowering America's engagement in the regional tensions and mooted military action against Iraq.
Bush held a individual resentment against Saddam, believing he had been responsible for a conspiracy to kill his father, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He also disliked that one of the largest establishments in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a likeness of his father's visage that everyone had to tread upon.
Investigation Approaches
However it was Cheney who was one of the most outspoken advocating striking Iraq, repeatedly referencing intelligence reports that were both thin or completely inaccurate. He supported what the Bush White House euphemistically referred to as "intensive questioning", the use of waterboarding and torture.
Responding to a Senate document in 2014 that determined that no useful information had resulted from the interrogation methods, Cheney dismissed the report as "full of crap". He told Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to implement measures and create procedures to capture the individuals who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it was not repeated. That was specifically what they did and they earn a lot of praise."
Public Image
Cheney enjoyed labels given to him by critics such as Darth Vader and the sinister presence, and by the idea that he was a dark force controlling Bush. In Peter Baker's 2013 book about the pair, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is quoted as saying: "Am I the sinister strategist in the background that remains unseen leave his domain? That is a advantageous way to function, actually."
Commercial Ties
Debate over his corporate affiliations accompanied him through his period as vice-president. Although he had minimal expertise in business but established relationships in military, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's biggest oil and gas conglomerates, in 1995 as chairman and chief executive.
In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's election partner for the executive branch. Contentiously, during the military campaign, Halliburton was granted US agreements worth multiple billions.
It made him rich. His yearly compensation during his tenure at the corporation grew from his $258,394 when he was defence secretary to over four million. When he resigned in 2000 he had a package worth over $20m|twenty
