The deceased US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who has died at age 84, was considered one of the most powerful holders of that office in American history. While many second-in-commands had to settle for minor or ceremonial roles, Cheney exercised enormous sway during the administration of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was frequently called as the "actual president".
Bush objected to this portrayal and said the relationship was more complicated. He pointed out that Cheney was deferential, always addressing him in public as the President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush challenged even portrayals of their association as a collaboration because it suggested that they were equals. Regardless of these objections, Cheney found the easygoing president pliable on a wide array of administrative determinations.
A Post-9/11 Era
Leading of a faction of neo-conservatives that featured defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the military intervention of Iraq in 2003 in response to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 assault, Bush had been taking part in a gathering at a educational institution in Florida. Whereas Bush traveled to a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, ordering the downing of any unidentified airplanes approaching the US Capitol.
Cheney stated the assaults changed him, causing him to be focused on retaliation. Together with other neo-conservatives, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a takeover of Afghanistan in an attempt to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then pressed fiercely for the armed intervention of Iraq, although there was little proof of Saddam Hussein having involvement.
Controversial Policies
He showed no remorse about the military campaign, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, nor about the harsh treatment of individuals rounded up after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was founded on misleading information circulated by Cheney, was the correct decision. "It proved to be the proper decision to do back then. I was convinced back then and I maintain that stance presently."
However during that period, there were dissenting voices at a top tier about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the White House's own representatives to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the position. "I observed, at the very least," he subsequently stated "clear negligence, negligence, and irresponsibility: potentially, deception, ineptitude, and corruption."
Additional Factors
Cheney was not completely responsible for the Iraq invasion. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for similar measures. He had written a memo setting out scenarios in which national priorities might be threatened (featuring "access to crucial commodities, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "the United States should be positioned to operate alone when joint efforts cannot be orchestrated," explicitly referencing armed actions against Iraq.
Bush too had assumed the White House vaguely intent on implementing what his parent had famously refused to do in 1991; topple Saddam. Following he had been dismissed by the White House, the finance chief Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the first meeting of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his intention of lowering America's involvement in the Middle East dispute and proposed armed intervention against Iraq.
Bush held a private grievance against Saddam, thinking he had been behind a plot to assassinate his father, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore resented that one of the biggest hotels in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a portrait of his father's face that everyone had to tread upon.
Questioning Techniques
Yet it was Cheney who was among the most outspoken supporting striking Iraq, frequently citing information documents that were whether insubstantial or entirely deceptive. He endorsed what the Bush government euphemistically referred to as "advanced techniques", the employment of simulated drowning and torture.
Responding to a Senate analysis in 2014 that concluded that no valuable data had been obtained through the harsh techniques, Cheney rejected the report as "full of crap". He told Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to establish protocols and put in place procedures to apprehend the bastards who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it never happened again. That is precisely what they did and they merit a lot of recognition."
Public Image
Cheney took pleasure in monikers assigned to him by critics such as the Star Wars villain and the sinister presence, and by the concept that he was a dark force directing Bush. In the journalist's 2013 book about the two, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is reported as stating: "Am I the evil genius in the corner that operates invisibly come out of his lair? It's a nice way to work, in fact."
Commercial Ties
Debate over his commercial relationships accompanied him throughout his time as VP. Although he had little experience 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 oil and gas conglomerates, in 1995 as leader and CEO.
In 2000 he became Bush's VP candidate for the executive branch. Contentiously, during the military campaign, Halliburton was given US contracts valued at billions.
It greatly increased his wealth. His annual income during his time at the corporation grew from his $258,394 while defence secretary to over four million. When he resigned in 2000 he had a severance arrangement worth more than $20m|twenty
