The former US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who has died at the age of 84, was regarded as among the most powerful holders of that position in US history. While numerous vice-presidents were confined to minor or symbolic roles, Cheney wielded huge sway during the presidency of George W Bush, to the point that he was frequently described as the "true president".
Bush objected to this portrayal and said the relationship was more complex. He pointed out that Cheney was deferential, consistently calling him in official appearances as President, while he called him as Dick. Bush disputed even characterisations of their partnership as a team because it suggested that they were on equal footing. Despite these denials, Cheney viewed the relaxed president pliable on a broad range of governmental choices.
A Period Following the Attacks
At the head of a group of neo-cons that encompassed defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the September 11th attacks on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been attending a meeting at a educational institution in Florida. As Bush headed for a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, directing the downing of any unresponsive planes heading toward the Capitol building.
Cheney claimed the strikes changed him, causing him to be intent on retaliation. Together with other conservative figures, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a takeover of Afghanistan in an effort to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the military action of Iraq, though there was little proof of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Disputed Decisions
He voiced no apologies about the invasion, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, nor about the harsh treatment of individuals apprehended after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was predicated on faulty reports repeated by Cheney, was the proper path to take. "It was the right thing to do then. I believed it at the time and I maintain that stance today."
Yet even then, there were dissenting voices at a high level about the poor management of Iraq. One of the government's own special envoys to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the role. "I witnessed, as a baseline," he later wrote "true dereliction, carelessness, and irresponsibility: at worst, deception, unfitness, and graft."
Additional Factors
Cheney was not entirely responsible for the Iraq military action. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for such action. He had composed a memo outlining circumstances in which American interests might be compromised (featuring "availability of crucial commodities, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "America should be postured to take unilateral action when collective action prove impossible," explicitly mentioning defense operations against Iraq.
Bush too had arrived in the Oval Office vaguely intent on carrying out what his parent had notably declined to do in 1991; remove Saddam. Following he had been dismissed by the administration, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had announced his intention of diminishing America's participation in the regional tensions and mooted armed intervention against Iraq.
Bush bore a individual resentment against Saddam, thinking he had been involved in a scheme to assassinate his parent, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally disliked that one of the largest hotels in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a likeness of his parent's countenance that each person had to tread upon.
Interrogation Methods
But it was Cheney who was one of the most vociferous behind invading Iraq, frequently quoting agency briefings that were both weak or entirely misleading. He backed what the Bush White House indirectly described as "advanced techniques", the use of waterboarding and physical pressure.
Answering a Senate document in 2014 that found that no valuable data had come from the interrogation methods, Cheney disregarded the report as "full of crap". He informed Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to establish protocols and create initiatives to capture the perpetrators who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it was not repeated. That is precisely what they did and they deserve a lot of praise."
Public Persona
Cheney enjoyed monikers assigned to him by critics such as the dark character and The Prince of Darkness, and by the idea that he was a sinister influence directing Bush. In the author's 2013 book about the duo, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is quoted as saying: "Am I the malevolent mastermind in the background that remains unseen leave his lair? It's a effective way to work, truthfully."
Commercial Ties
Dispute over his business interests followed him through his period as VP. While he had little experience in business but good contacts in defence, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial energy conglomerates, in 1995 as chair and chief executive.
In 2000 he became Bush's election partner for the executive branch. Controversially, during the military campaign, Halliburton was awarded US agreements worth multiple billions.
It significantly boosted his finances. His yearly earnings during his period at the corporation increased from his previous salary while military head to $4.4m. When he departed in 2000 he had a compensation package totaling in excess of $20m|twenty
