The late US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who has died at age 84, was considered one of the most influential holders of the vice-presidency in the nation's history. Although numerous VPs were limited to marginal or symbolic positions, Cheney held huge sway during the term of George W Bush, to the point that he was often described as the "actual president".
Bush disliked that description and said the relationship was more complex. He pointed out that Cheney was deferential, invariably addressing him in public settings as the President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush challenged even descriptions of their partnership as a partnership because it suggested that they were on equal footing. Regardless of these objections, Cheney considered the relaxed president pliable on a broad range of administrative determinations.
A Period Following the Attacks
Leading of a group of neo-conservatives that encompassed defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the invasion of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. At the time of the 9/11 assault, Bush had been taking part in a session at a elementary school in Florida. While Bush made his way to a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, commanding the shooting down of any non-communicating planes nearing the Capitol building.
Cheney stated the attacks changed him, causing him to be focused on retaliation. In conjunction with other conservative figures, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a occupation of Afghanistan in an endeavor to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then pressed fiercely for the invasion of Iraq, although there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein having involvement.
Disputed Actions
He showed no remorse about the military campaign, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis died, nor about the waterboarding of detainees rounded up after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was based on misleading intelligence repeated by Cheney, was the proper course of action. "It proved to be the correct action to do at that time. I believed it then and I hold that view now."
Yet even at the time, there were contrary opinions at a high level about the poor management of Iraq. One of the administration's own representatives to the Middle East, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the post. "I witnessed, at the very least," he subsequently stated "clear negligence, negligence, and recklessness: potentially, lying, ineptitude, and dishonesty."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not solely to blame for the Iraq campaign. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for similar measures. He had written a memo outlining scenarios in which national priorities might be compromised (featuring "access to crucial commodities, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "the United States should be postured to take unilateral action when cooperative measures cannot be arranged," specifically mentioning military moves against Iraq.
Bush also had arrived in the White House generally inclined on carrying out what his predecessor had specifically avoided to do in 1991; topple Saddam. Subsequent to he had been dismissed by the administration, 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 reducing America's engagement in the regional tensions and proposed defense operations against Iraq.
Bush held a individual resentment against Saddam, convinced he had been responsible for a scheme to kill his parent, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally objected to that one of the largest establishments in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a likeness of his father's visage that all visitors had to walk over.
Questioning Techniques
However it was Cheney who was part of the most vehement advocating invading Iraq, repeatedly quoting information documents that were whether insubstantial or totally misleading. He backed what the Bush government indirectly described as "intensive questioning", the employment of interrogation method and physical pressure.
Addressing a Senate document in 2014 that found that no useful information had come from the harsh techniques, Cheney dismissed the report as "riddled with crap". He told Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to take steps and put in place programmes to capture the bastards 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 recognition."
Public Image
Cheney reveled in nicknames imposed on him by critics such as the Star Wars villain and the dark figure, and by the concept that he was a dark force directing Bush. In the journalist's 2013 book about the duo, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is quoted as saying: "Am I the sinister strategist in the corner that operates invisibly leave his domain? That is a advantageous way to operate, actually."
Corporate Connections
Controversy over his commercial relationships pursued him through his period as VP. Although he had little experience in commerce but established relationships in defence, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's largest petroleum conglomerates, in 1995 as chairman and chief executive.
In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's running mate for the White House. Debatably, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was awarded US deals worth billions.
It made him rich. His yearly earnings during his period at the firm increased from his quarter-million dollars during his time as Pentagon chief to millions. When he departed in 2000 he had a package totaling over $20m|twenty
