The former US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who died at age 84, was regarded as among the most powerful occupants of the vice-presidency in the nation's history. Although numerous second-in-commands were confined to minor or ceremonial positions, Cheney wielded substantial power during the administration of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was commonly described as the "actual president".
Bush disliked such a characterisation and said the dynamic was more complicated. He observed that Cheney was respectful, always calling him in public as the President, while he called him as Dick. Bush disputed even characterisations of their partnership as a partnership because it suggested that they were equals. In spite of these denials, Cheney found the easygoing president accommodating on a whole raft of governmental choices.
The Aftermath of 9/11
Leading of a contingent of neo-cons that featured military head Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 strike, Bush had been participating in a gathering at a school in Florida. Whereas Bush traveled to a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, ordering the downing of any non-communicating planes approaching the Capitol building.
Cheney stated the attacks altered his perspective, making him become focused on revenge. In conjunction with other neo-conservatives, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a occupation of Afghanistan in an endeavor to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then pressed fiercely for the invasion of Iraq, though there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein playing a role.
Debated Policies
He expressed no regrets about the armed intervention, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis died, or about the enhanced interrogation of detainees captured after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was based on misleading information repeated by Cheney, was the correct decision. "It proved to be the correct action to do back then. I was convinced back then and I maintain that stance now."
But even at the time, there were dissenting voices at a senior level about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the White House's own representatives to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the position. "I saw, as a baseline," he later wrote "clear negligence, negligence, and recklessness: at worst, deception, incompetence, and dishonesty."
Broader Context
Cheney was not entirely accountable for the Iraq military action. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for comparable steps. He had composed a document setting out scenarios in which American interests might be threatened (featuring "availability of vital raw materials, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "the US should be prepared to act independently when joint efforts cannot be orchestrated," particularly mentioning defense operations against Iraq.
Bush too had entered the presidency generally inclined on carrying out what his father had famously refused to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. After he had been fired by the president, the finance chief Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the first meeting of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his plan of diminishing America's participation in the Middle East dispute and suggested defense operations against Iraq.
Bush held a individual resentment against Saddam, convinced he had been behind a scheme to assassinate his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He also objected to that one of the most prominent hotels in Baghdad had a ground design with a likeness of his predecessor's visage that each person had to step on.
Interrogation Methods
Yet it was Cheney who was part of the most outspoken advocating attacking Iraq, repeatedly referencing information documents that were either thin or completely deceptive. He supported what the Bush government politely called as "intensive questioning", the employment of simulated drowning and physical pressure.
Addressing a Senate report in 2014 that found that no valuable data had resulted from the interrogation methods, Cheney disregarded the conclusions as "full of crap". He informed Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to establish protocols and put in place procedures to capture the perpetrators who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it never happened again. That is precisely what they did and they earn a lot of credit."
External Perception
Cheney took pleasure in monikers imposed on him by opponents such as Darth Vader and The Prince of Darkness, and by the notion that he was a sinister influence controlling Bush. In the author's 2013 publication 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 shadows that operates invisibly emerge from his lair? This represents a nice way to function, actually."
Commercial Ties
Dispute over his business interests accompanied him through his period as second-in-command. Even though he had minimal expertise in corporate affairs but strong connections in military, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's largest petroleum conglomerates, in 1995 as leader and chief executive.
In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's election partner for the presidency. Contentiously, during the military campaign, Halliburton was awarded US deals totaling substantial sums.
It significantly boosted his finances. His yearly compensation during his period at the firm increased from his $258,394 when he was Pentagon chief to $4.4m. When he departed in 2000 he had a severance arrangement valued at in excess of $20m|twenty
