The late US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who has died at the age of 84, was regarded as one of the most significant occupants of that position in American history. Whereas numerous second-in-commands were confined to peripheral or ceremonial functions, Cheney held huge power during the presidency of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was commonly called as the "real president".
Bush objected to that description and said the relationship was more nuanced. He pointed out that Cheney was deferential, always referring to him in public settings as President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush disputed even descriptions of their partnership as a team because it implied that they were equals. In spite of such protestations, Cheney viewed the easygoing president accommodating on a wide array of administrative determinations.
The Period Following the Attacks
At the head of a faction of neo-cons that featured Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the invasion of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. During of the 9/11 assault, Bush had been attending a gathering at a school in Florida. Whereas Bush headed for a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney took command, ordering the downing of any unresponsive aircraft approaching the US Capitol.
Cheney said the attacks altered his perspective, causing him to be intent on retaliation. In conjunction with other neo-conservatives, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a occupation of Afghanistan in an effort to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then pressed fiercely for the invasion of Iraq, even though there was little proof of Saddam Hussein playing a role.
Disputed Policies
He expressed no regrets about the invasion, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis perished, nor about the enhanced interrogation of detainees apprehended after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was predicated on faulty information echoed by Cheney, was the proper course of action. "It proved to be the correct action to do back then. I believed it at the time and I believe it presently."
But even at the time, there were dissenting voices at a top tier about the botched execution of Iraq. One of the White House's own delegates to the Middle East, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the role. "I witnessed, as a baseline," he later wrote "obvious failure, negligence, and unaccountability: at worst, deception, unfitness, and graft."
Broader Context
Cheney was not entirely responsible for the Iraq invasion. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for similar measures. He had written a document setting out circumstances in which US concerns might be compromised (featuring "availability of essential resources, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "America should be prepared to take unilateral action when cooperative measures cannot be orchestrated," particularly referencing military moves against Iraq.
Bush too had entered the Oval Office generally inclined on implementing what his father had notably declined to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. Subsequent to he had been sacked by the president, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill disclosed how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his intention of reducing America's participation in the regional tensions and mooted defense operations against Iraq.
Bush held a individual resentment against Saddam, believing he had been involved in a conspiracy to assassinate his parent, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore disliked that one of the most prominent accommodations in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a image of his predecessor's visage that all visitors had to step on.
Investigation Approaches
But it was Cheney who was one of the most vehement supporting attacking Iraq, repeatedly quoting intelligence reports that were both insubstantial or completely inaccurate. He endorsed what the Bush administration politely called as "intensive questioning", the use of simulated drowning and physical pressure.
Addressing a Senate document in 2014 that concluded that no useful information had come from the harsh techniques, Cheney dismissed the findings as "loaded with crap". He informed Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to establish protocols and create initiatives to apprehend the perpetrators who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it never happened again. That was specifically what they did and they earn a lot of praise."
Public Image
Cheney reveled in nicknames given to him by detractors such as the Star Wars villain and The Prince of Darkness, and by the notion that he was a shadow power controlling Bush. In Peter Baker's 2013 publication about the two, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is quoted as saying: "Is it me who is the malevolent mastermind in the corner that remains unseen leave his domain? It's a nice way to work, actually."
Business Interests
Debate over his corporate affiliations followed him during his tenure as second-in-command. Even though he had limited background 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 biggest energy companies, in 1995 as leader and chief executive.
In 2000 he was selected as Bush's running mate for the presidency. Contentiously, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was awarded US contracts worth billions.
It significantly boosted his finances. His yearly compensation during his tenure at the corporation increased from his $258,394 during his time as Pentagon chief to $4.4m. When he resigned in 2000 he had a package totaling in excess of $20m|twenty
