The former US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who has died at age 84, was seen as one of the most significant occupants of that position in American history. Although numerous VPs were confined to marginal or figurehead positions, Cheney wielded huge power during the term of George W Bush, so much so that he was commonly called as the "real president".
Bush objected to such a characterisation and stated the dynamic was more complicated. He pointed out that Cheney was courteous, invariably referring to him in official appearances as Mr President, while he called him as Dick. Bush disputed even characterisations of their partnership as a collaboration because it implied that they were equals. In spite of these objections, Cheney considered the relaxed president accommodating on a whole raft of governmental choices.
A Aftermath of 9/11
At the head of a faction of neo-conservatives that encompassed defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in reaction to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. At the time of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been attending a meeting at a educational institution in Florida. Whereas Bush headed for a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, directing the destruction of any unidentified planes heading toward the government building.
Cheney said the strikes transformed him, making him become focused on revenge. Along with other neo-cons, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a occupation of Afghanistan in an attempt to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the military action of Iraq, though there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein having involvement.
Disputed Actions
He expressed no regrets about the armed intervention, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, nor about the waterboarding of individuals apprehended after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was predicated on inaccurate intelligence repeated by Cheney, was the right decision. "It was the correct action to do then. I believed it then and I believe it presently."
Yet even at the time, there were opposing views at a senior level about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the White House's own delegates to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the post. "I saw, at the very least," he wrote later "obvious failure, carelessness, and unaccountability: at worst, lying, unfitness, and graft."
Broader Context
Cheney was not solely accountable for the Iraq campaign. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for comparable steps. He had written a memorandum setting out situations in which national priorities might be endangered (encompassing "obtaining essential resources, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "America should be postured to operate alone when collective action cannot be arranged," explicitly referencing defense operations against Iraq.
Bush also had assumed the presidency generally inclined on implementing what his parent had notably declined to do in 1991; remove Saddam. After he had been dismissed by the president, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his objective of reducing America's participation in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and mooted armed intervention against Iraq.
Bush carried a personal grudge against Saddam, thinking he had been involved in a scheme to assassinate his father, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally objected to that one of the most prominent establishments in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a image of his parent's face that each person had to step on.
Interrogation Methods
However it was Cheney who was one of the most vociferous supporting invading Iraq, repeatedly quoting information documents that were both weak or completely misleading. He endorsed what the Bush White House politely called as "advanced techniques", the application of waterboarding and physical pressure.
Responding to a Senate document in 2014 that determined that no actionable intelligence had come from the harsh techniques, Cheney dismissed the report as "full of crap". He stated to Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to establish protocols and establish procedures to catch the perpetrators who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it never happened again. That was specifically what they did and they merit a lot of recognition."
Public Persona
Cheney took pleasure in labels assigned to him by opponents such as Darth Vader and The Prince of Darkness, and by the idea that he was a sinister influence directing Bush. In Peter Baker'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 shadows that nobody ever sees come out of his lair? This represents a nice way to operate, in fact."
Commercial Ties
Controversy over his commercial relationships pursued him through his period as vice-president. While he had minimal expertise in business but strong connections in military, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's biggest energy corporations, in 1995 as chair and CEO.
In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's running mate for the White House. Controversially, during the military campaign, Halliburton was given US contracts totaling multiple billions.
It significantly boosted his finances. His yearly earnings during his period at the company increased from his $258,394 while Pentagon chief to millions. When he left in 2000 he had a compensation package valued at in excess of $20m|twenty
