The former US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who has died at age 84, was considered one of the most influential incumbents of that position in the nation's history. Although countless second-in-commands had to settle for peripheral or symbolic functions, Cheney wielded enormous influence during the administration of George W Bush, so much so that he was commonly referred to as the "true president".
Bush resented this portrayal and claimed the connection was more complex. He observed that Cheney was respectful, invariably addressing him in public settings as President, while he called him as Dick. Bush questioned even portrayals of their partnership as a team because it indicated that they were equals. In spite of these objections, Cheney found the relaxed president accommodating on a wide array of policy decisions.
A Aftermath of 9/11
Leading of a faction of conservative hawks that included military head Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the invasion of Iraq in 2003 in response to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 assault, Bush had been participating in a gathering at a school in Florida. While Bush made his way to a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney took command, commanding the shooting down of any unidentified airplanes nearing the government building.
Cheney stated the assaults changed him, causing him to be determined on revenge. Together with other neo-conservatives, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a takeover of Afghanistan in an attempt to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the military action of Iraq, though there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein having involvement.
Controversial Decisions
He showed no remorse about the armed intervention, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis perished, nor about the harsh treatment of individuals captured after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was founded on misleading information repeated by Cheney, was the correct path to take. "It was the correct action to do back then. I had faith then and I believe it now."
But even then, there were opposing views at a high level about the botched execution of Iraq. One of the government's own delegates to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the role. "I observed, as a baseline," he wrote later "obvious failure, negligence, and recklessness: in the worst case, lying, incompetence, and corruption."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not completely to blame for the Iraq invasion. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for comparable steps. He had written a document setting out circumstances in which national priorities might be endangered (including "availability of vital raw materials, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "the United States should be prepared to take unilateral action when collective action cannot be arranged," particularly citing military moves against Iraq.
Bush also had assumed the Oval Office generally inclined on implementing what his father had specifically avoided to do in 1991; remove Saddam. Following he had been sacked by the president, the finance chief Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the first meeting of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his plan of lowering America's engagement in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and suggested military action against Iraq.
Bush held a personal grudge against Saddam, thinking he had been responsible for a plot to murder his father, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally resented that one of the largest establishments in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a image of his parent's face that all visitors had to walk over.
Investigation Approaches
Yet it was Cheney who was among the most outspoken advocating invading Iraq, repeatedly citing agency briefings that were both insubstantial or totally deceptive. He endorsed what the Bush White House euphemistically referred to as "advanced techniques", the employment of simulated drowning and torture.
Responding to a Senate analysis in 2014 that concluded that no valuable data had come from the interrogation methods, Cheney disregarded the conclusions as "riddled with crap". He stated to Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to implement measures and put in place initiatives to apprehend the individuals who took the lives of 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it would not recur. That's exactly what they did and they deserve a lot of credit."
Public Persona
Cheney took pleasure in monikers given to him by critics such as the dark character and The Prince of Darkness, and by the idea that he was a shadow power directing Bush. In the journalist's 2013 volume about the pair, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is quoted as saying: "Am I the evil genius in the corner that remains unseen come out of his domain? That is a advantageous way to work, in fact."
Commercial Ties
Dispute over his corporate affiliations followed him during his tenure as second-in-command. While he had limited background in corporate affairs but good contacts in military, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's largest oil and gas corporations, in 1995 as chair and CEO.
In 2000 he was selected as Bush's running mate for the executive branch. Contentiously, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was granted US agreements worth multiple billions.
It significantly boosted his finances. His yearly earnings during his tenure at the company increased from his $258,394 when he was military head to $4.4m. When he left in 2000 he had a package totaling in excess of $20m|twenty
