The late US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who has died at age 84, was regarded as among the most influential incumbents of that position in the nation's history. Whereas numerous second-in-commands were confined to peripheral or symbolic functions, Cheney exercised substantial sway during the administration of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was frequently described as the "true president".
Bush resented this portrayal and stated the relationship was more complex. He pointed out that Cheney was deferential, invariably calling him in public as the President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush questioned even descriptions of their association as a team because it suggested that they were peers. Regardless of these denials, Cheney found the relaxed president pliable on a broad range of policy decisions.
The Post-9/11 Era
In charge of a faction of conservative hawks that included military head Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the invasion of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the September 11th attacks on New York and Washington. During of the 9/11 assault, Bush had been attending a gathering at a elementary school in Florida. As Bush traveled to a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, commanding the downing of any unidentified airplanes approaching the government building.
Cheney stated the attacks altered his perspective, leading him to become focused on revenge. Along with other neo-conservatives, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a occupation of Afghanistan in an effort to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then pressed fiercely for the armed intervention of Iraq, even though there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Controversial Actions
He voiced no apologies about the armed intervention, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, and not about the enhanced interrogation of detainees rounded up after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was predicated on faulty information circulated by Cheney, was the proper course of action. "It represented the proper decision to do at that time. I was convinced then and I hold that view presently."
Yet even at the time, there were contrary opinions at a senior level about the poor management of Iraq. One of the White House's own special envoys to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the post. "I witnessed, at a minimum," he subsequently stated "true dereliction, carelessness, and irresponsibility: in the worst case, lying, unfitness, and corruption."
Broader Context
Cheney was not entirely to blame for the Iraq campaign. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for comparable steps. He had written a memo detailing situations in which American interests might be threatened (including "obtaining crucial commodities, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "the United States should be postured to operate alone when collective action cannot be orchestrated," specifically citing armed actions against Iraq.
Bush too had assumed the presidency generally inclined on executing what his predecessor had notably declined to do in 1991; remove Saddam. Following he had been fired 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 lowering America's involvement in the Middle East dispute and mooted defense operations against Iraq.
Bush held a personal grudge against Saddam, believing he had been behind a scheme to murder his father, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore resented that one of the largest accommodations in Baghdad had a ground design with a image of his parent's countenance that all visitors had to tread upon.
Questioning Techniques
However it was Cheney who was part of the most vociferous supporting invading Iraq, frequently quoting intelligence reports that were both weak or entirely deceptive. He backed what the Bush White House euphemistically referred to as "advanced techniques", the employment of interrogation method and physical pressure.
Responding to a Senate document in 2014 that concluded that no actionable intelligence had been obtained through the torture, Cheney rejected the conclusions as "full of crap". He stated to Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to establish protocols and create initiatives to catch the individuals who took the lives of 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it would not recur. That is precisely what they did and they deserve a lot of recognition."
External Perception
Cheney enjoyed nicknames given to him by critics such as the dark character and the dark figure, and by the notion that he was a shadow power controlling Bush. In Peter Baker's 2013 publication about the pair, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is reported as stating: "Do I represent the sinister strategist in the shadows that remains unseen emerge from his lair? That is a advantageous way to function, actually."
Commercial Ties
Controversy over his business interests accompanied him during his tenure as VP. Even though he had little experience in commerce but strong connections in security, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial energy conglomerates, in 1995 as chairman and top executive.
In 2000 he became Bush's VP candidate for the presidency. Contentiously, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was given US agreements totaling multiple billions.
It significantly boosted his finances. His yearly compensation during his period at the company grew from his previous salary while defence secretary to millions. When he resigned in 2000 he had a package valued at over $20m|twenty
