The former US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who has died at the age of 84, was regarded as among the most influential incumbents of the vice-presidency in American history. While many vice-presidents were limited to minor or ceremonial roles, Cheney exercised substantial power during the term of George W Bush, to the point that he was often referred to as the "actual president".
Bush disliked such a characterisation and said the relationship was more complicated. He pointed out that Cheney was courteous, always calling him in public settings as Mr President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush questioned even characterisations of their association as a team because it implied that they were equals. In spite of these objections, Cheney considered the easygoing president malleable on a broad range of administrative determinations.
The Aftermath of 9/11
Leading of a contingent of neo-cons that featured defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in response to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 assault, Bush had been attending a gathering at a school in Florida. While Bush traveled to a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, directing the shooting down of any non-communicating aircraft nearing the Capitol building.
Cheney claimed the assaults altered his perspective, causing him to be focused on retaliation. Together with other neo-cons, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a takeover of Afghanistan in an endeavor to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the armed intervention of Iraq, although there was little proof of Saddam Hussein having involvement.
Debated Decisions
He showed no remorse about the armed intervention, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis perished, nor about the waterboarding of suspects rounded up after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was founded on inaccurate intelligence circulated by Cheney, was the correct decision. "It represented the right thing to do at that time. I believed it at the time and I maintain that stance presently."
However even at the time, there were opposing views at a high level about the poor management of Iraq. One of the government's own special envoys to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the post. "I saw, at the very least," he subsequently stated "true dereliction, negligence, and recklessness: potentially, lying, incompetence, and corruption."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not entirely to blame for the Iraq military action. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for similar measures. He had written a memorandum detailing scenarios in which US concerns might be threatened (featuring "obtaining vital raw materials, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "the US should be prepared to take unilateral action when joint efforts cannot be arranged," particularly citing armed actions against Iraq.
Bush additionally had arrived in the presidency vaguely intent on carrying out what his predecessor had famously refused to do in 1991; remove Saddam. Following he had been fired by the president, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his objective of lowering America's engagement in the regional tensions and mooted armed intervention against Iraq.
Bush carried a individual resentment against Saddam, believing he had been behind a conspiracy to murder his parent, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally objected to that one of the largest establishments in Baghdad had a floor mural with a image of his parent's visage that everyone had to step on.
Questioning Techniques
Yet it was Cheney who was part of the most vehement advocating attacking Iraq, frequently referencing information documents that were either thin or entirely misleading. He backed what the Bush White House euphemistically referred to as "enhanced interrogation", the use of simulated drowning and physical pressure.
Responding to a Senate analysis in 2014 that found that no actionable intelligence had been obtained through the torture, Cheney disregarded the findings as "loaded with crap". He stated to Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to take steps and put in place initiatives to capture the individuals who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it would not recur. That is precisely what they did and they merit a lot of recognition."
Public Image
Cheney took pleasure in nicknames assigned to him by opponents such as Darth Vader and The Prince of Darkness, and by the notion that he was a dark force directing Bush. In Peter Baker's 2013 book about the duo, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is reported as stating: "Do I represent the sinister strategist in the corner that nobody ever sees come out of his domain? This represents a advantageous way to function, actually."
Corporate Connections
Controversy over his commercial relationships pursued him through his period as second-in-command. Even though he had minimal expertise in business but strong connections in security, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's largest energy corporations, in 1995 as chairman and CEO.
In 2000 he became Bush's VP candidate for the executive branch. Contentiously, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was awarded US agreements worth billions.
It significantly boosted his finances. His yearly compensation during his tenure at the corporation grew from his quarter-million dollars during his time as defence secretary to $4.4m. When he left in 2000 he had a compensation package valued at more than $20m|twenty
