The late US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who has died at the age of 84, was regarded as among the most influential occupants of that office in US history. Although many second-in-commands had to settle for marginal or figurehead functions, Cheney exercised substantial influence during the term of George W Bush, to the point that he was often referred to as the "actual president".
Bush objected to that description and stated the dynamic was more complicated. He observed that Cheney was deferential, invariably addressing him in public settings as President, while he called him as Dick. Bush questioned even descriptions of their partnership as a collaboration because it suggested that they were peers. Regardless of these denials, Cheney viewed the laidback president pliable on a whole raft of administrative determinations.
A Post-9/11 Era
At the head of a group of neo-conservatives that encompassed defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the armed incursion 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 session at a educational institution in Florida. Whereas Bush made his way to a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, directing the shooting down of any unresponsive airplanes approaching the Capitol building.
Cheney said the assaults changed him, leading him to become intent on retaliation. Along with other conservative figures, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a occupation of Afghanistan in an effort to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the military action of Iraq, although 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 died, or about the harsh treatment of individuals rounded up after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was founded on inaccurate information repeated by Cheney, was the correct course of action. "It was the correct action to do then. I believed it at the time and I believe it now."
Yet even at the time, there were opposing views at a high level about the botched execution of Iraq. One of the government's own special envoys to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the position. "I saw, at the very least," he later wrote "clear negligence, inaction, and unaccountability: potentially, deception, ineptitude, and corruption."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not completely accountable for the Iraq campaign. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for similar measures. He had composed a memo setting out situations in which American interests might be endangered (featuring "obtaining vital raw materials, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "America should be positioned to operate alone when cooperative measures cannot be orchestrated," explicitly citing armed actions against Iraq.
Bush also had arrived in the presidency somewhat determined on executing what his father had notably declined to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. Subsequent to he had been sacked by the White House, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his plan of lowering America's involvement in the regional tensions and proposed defense operations against Iraq.
Bush held a individual resentment against Saddam, thinking he had been behind a conspiracy to assassinate his parent, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He also resented that one of the largest establishments in Baghdad had a ground design with a image of his predecessor's countenance that each person had to walk over.
Interrogation Methods
But it was Cheney who was part of the most vociferous advocating invading Iraq, repeatedly referencing agency briefings that were both thin or completely inaccurate. He backed what the Bush administration politely called as "enhanced interrogation", the employment of waterboarding and torture.
Addressing a Senate analysis in 2014 that found that no actionable intelligence had resulted from the torture, Cheney dismissed the report as "loaded with crap". He told Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to implement measures and put in place programmes to capture the perpetrators who took the lives of 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it would not recur. That is precisely what they did and they merit a lot of praise."
Public Persona
Cheney reveled in nicknames imposed on him by opponents such as the Star Wars villain and The Prince of Darkness, and by the notion that he was a sinister influence controlling Bush. In the journalist's 2013 volume about the pair, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is reported as stating: "Am I the malevolent mastermind in the shadows that nobody ever sees come out of his domain? It's a nice way to function, in fact."
Business Interests
Debate over his business interests pursued him throughout his time as VP. Even though he had limited background in commerce but established relationships in military, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's biggest oil and gas conglomerates, in 1995 as chairman and CEO.
In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's election partner for the presidency. Controversially, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was awarded US deals totaling billions.
It made him rich. His annual income during his time at the company increased from his $258,394 during his time as Pentagon chief to millions. When he resigned in 2000 he had a compensation package worth in excess of $20m|twenty
