The late US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who passed away at age 84, was considered among the most powerful occupants of that position in US history. While many second-in-commands had to settle for minor or symbolic functions, Cheney held huge sway during the administration of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was commonly described as the "actual president".
Bush resented such a characterisation and stated the relationship was more nuanced. He pointed out that Cheney was courteous, invariably calling him in official appearances as Mr President, while he called him as Dick. Bush challenged even characterisations of their partnership as a team because it suggested that they were peers. Despite such protestations, Cheney considered the laidback president pliable on a whole raft of policy decisions.
The Aftermath of 9/11
At the head of a group of neo-conservatives that included defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the military intervention of Iraq in 2003 in reaction to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. During of the 9/11 assault, Bush had been taking part in a gathering at a school in Florida. As Bush made his way to a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, commanding the destruction of any unidentified aircraft approaching the government building.
Cheney said the assaults altered his perspective, causing him to be determined on retaliation. In conjunction with other neo-cons, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a occupation of Afghanistan in an endeavor to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then pressed fiercely for the military action of Iraq, although there was little proof of Saddam Hussein playing a role.
Debated Actions
He voiced no apologies about the military campaign, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis perished, and not about the harsh treatment of individuals apprehended after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was based on faulty information repeated by Cheney, was the proper course of action. "It proved to be the right thing to do then. I believed it at the time and I maintain that stance now."
However even at the time, there were contrary opinions at a senior level about the poor management of Iraq. One of the administration's own delegates to the Middle East, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the post. "I saw, at a minimum," he subsequently stated "true dereliction, inaction, and irresponsibility: in the worst case, falsehoods, ineptitude, and dishonesty."
Broader Context
Cheney was not entirely responsible for the Iraq invasion. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for such action. He had drafted a memorandum outlining situations in which national priorities might be endangered (encompassing "obtaining essential resources, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "the United States should be prepared to operate alone when collective action cannot be orchestrated," specifically referencing military moves against Iraq.
Bush too had assumed the Oval Office vaguely intent on carrying out what his father had specifically avoided to do in 1991; remove Saddam. Subsequent to he had been fired by the administration, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his plan of reducing America's participation in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and proposed military action against Iraq.
Bush carried a private grievance against Saddam, thinking he had been behind a conspiracy to kill his father, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally disliked that one of the biggest establishments in Baghdad had a ground design with a image of his predecessor's countenance that all visitors had to step on.
Interrogation Methods
But it was Cheney who was part of the most outspoken advocating striking Iraq, frequently citing agency briefings that were both insubstantial or completely misleading. He backed what the Bush government politely called as "advanced techniques", the use of waterboarding and torture.
Addressing a Senate analysis in 2014 that determined that no useful information had resulted from the torture, Cheney dismissed the findings as "full of crap". He informed Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to take steps and put in place programmes to apprehend the bastards who took the lives of 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it would not recur. That is precisely what they did and they deserve a lot of praise."
External Perception
Cheney took pleasure in nicknames assigned to him by critics such as the dark character and the sinister presence, and by the concept that he was a shadow power directing Bush. In the journalist's 2013 volume about the two, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is reported as stating: "Is it me who is the sinister strategist in the corner that operates invisibly come out of his lair? This represents a nice way to function, actually."
Commercial Ties
Controversy over his corporate affiliations followed him throughout his time as second-in-command. Even though he had limited background in corporate affairs but good contacts in military, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's largest oil and gas conglomerates, in 1995 as leader and chief executive.
In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's VP candidate for the presidency. Debatably, during the military campaign, Halliburton was awarded US agreements totaling billions.
It made him rich. His annual income during his time at the corporation rose from his previous salary while Pentagon chief to millions. When he resigned in 2000 he had a severance arrangement worth in excess of $20m|twenty
