The late US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who has died at the age of 84, was regarded as arguably the most influential occupants of that office in the nation's history. Whereas numerous VPs had to settle for peripheral or figurehead roles, Cheney exercised enormous sway during the administration of George W Bush, to the point that he was frequently called as the "real president".
Bush disliked this portrayal and claimed the dynamic was more nuanced. He pointed out that Cheney was respectful, always calling him in official appearances as President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush disputed even descriptions of their partnership as a team because it suggested that they were on equal footing. In spite of these objections, Cheney viewed the relaxed president accommodating on a broad range of governmental choices.
A Period Following the Attacks
Leading of a faction of conservative hawks that encompassed defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the military intervention of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 assault, Bush had been attending a meeting at a educational institution in Florida. While Bush made his way to a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, ordering the shooting down of any unidentified aircraft nearing the US Capitol.
Cheney claimed the assaults altered his perspective, causing him to be determined on retribution. Together with other neo-conservatives, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a takeover of Afghanistan in an endeavor to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then pressed fiercely for the military action of Iraq, though there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Disputed Policies
He showed no remorse about the military campaign, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis perished, and not about the harsh treatment of individuals captured after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was founded on faulty information echoed by Cheney, was the right course of action. "It was the proper decision to do back then. I had faith then and I believe it today."
But during that period, there were contrary opinions at a senior level about the botched execution of Iraq. One of the government's own special envoys to the Middle East, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the post. "I observed, at the very least," he subsequently stated "true dereliction, inaction, and unaccountability: at worst, lying, unfitness, and dishonesty."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not entirely to blame for the Iraq campaign. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for such action. He had written a memorandum outlining situations in which national priorities might be compromised (featuring "availability of vital raw materials, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "America should be positioned to act independently when cooperative measures prove impossible," particularly citing defense operations against Iraq.
Bush also had assumed the White House vaguely intent on carrying out what his predecessor had specifically avoided to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. Subsequent to he had been sacked by the White House, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill disclosed how, at the first meeting of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his plan of diminishing America's engagement in the Middle East dispute and mooted military action against Iraq.
Bush bore a individual resentment against Saddam, believing he had been behind a conspiracy to kill his father, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally objected to that one of the most prominent hotels in Baghdad had a floor mural with a portrait of his father's face that everyone had to step on.
Interrogation Methods
Yet it was Cheney who was part of the most outspoken supporting invading Iraq, frequently referencing intelligence reports that were whether weak or totally misleading. He supported what the Bush White House euphemistically referred to as "advanced techniques", the use of simulated drowning and harsh treatment.
Answering a Senate analysis in 2014 that concluded that no useful information had come from the harsh techniques, Cheney rejected the findings as "full of crap". He informed Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to take steps and create programmes to catch the individuals who took the lives of 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it never happened again. That is precisely what they did and they merit a lot of praise."
Public Image
Cheney took pleasure in monikers given to him by critics such as the Star Wars villain and The Prince of Darkness, and by the notion that he was a sinister influence manipulating Bush. In Peter Baker'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 background that remains unseen emerge from his hole? That is a advantageous way to work, truthfully."
Business Interests
Debate over his business interests accompanied him through his period as VP. Although he had minimal expertise in corporate affairs but established relationships in security, 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 became Bush's election partner for the executive branch. Contentiously, during the military campaign, Halliburton was granted US agreements valued at billions.
It significantly boosted his finances. His yearly earnings during his time at the company increased from his quarter-million dollars while Pentagon chief to $4.4m. When he left in 2000 he had a severance arrangement worth more than $20m|twenty
