The late US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who has died at the age of 84, was seen as arguably the most significant occupants of the vice-presidency in the nation's history. Although many vice-presidents were confined to marginal or ceremonial positions, Cheney wielded enormous power during the presidency of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was frequently described as the "actual president".
Bush objected to this portrayal and stated the relationship was more complicated. He noted that Cheney was courteous, invariably referring to him in public as Mr President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush challenged even descriptions of their association as a collaboration because it indicated that they were equals. Despite these denials, Cheney viewed the easygoing president malleable on a whole raft of policy decisions.
A Post-9/11 Era
At the head of a contingent of neo-conservatives that included Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the invasion of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 strike, Bush had been attending a session at a school in Florida. As Bush traveled to a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney took command, directing the shooting down of any non-communicating airplanes nearing the Capitol building.
Cheney said the assaults changed him, making him become focused on revenge. Together with other neo-conservatives, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a invasion of Afghanistan in an endeavor to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the armed intervention of Iraq, although there was little proof of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Disputed Actions
He voiced no apologies about the armed intervention, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis perished, and not about the enhanced interrogation of suspects rounded up after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was predicated on misleading reports echoed by Cheney, was the proper decision. "It proved to be the right thing to do then. I was convinced at the time and I believe it today."
Yet during that period, there were opposing views at a top tier about the poor management of Iraq. One of the administration's own representatives to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the post. "I saw, at a minimum," he later wrote "true dereliction, carelessness, and recklessness: potentially, falsehoods, incompetence, and graft."
Broader Context
Cheney was not solely to blame for the Iraq military action. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for similar measures. He had written a document detailing situations in which US concerns might be threatened (including "access to vital raw materials, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "the US should be prepared to operate alone when joint efforts cannot be orchestrated," explicitly referencing military moves against Iraq.
Bush additionally had arrived in the Oval Office generally inclined on executing what his parent had specifically avoided to do in 1991; topple Saddam. Following he had been dismissed by the White House, 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 Israeli-Palestinian conflict and proposed defense operations against Iraq.
Bush held a personal grudge against Saddam, believing he had been responsible for a conspiracy to assassinate his parent, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He also disliked that one of the biggest establishments in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a image of his parent's face that each person had to tread upon.
Questioning Techniques
But it was Cheney who was among the most vociferous advocating attacking Iraq, frequently quoting intelligence reports that were both insubstantial or entirely deceptive. He supported what the Bush White House euphemistically referred to as "enhanced interrogation", the application of waterboarding and physical pressure.
Responding to a Senate report in 2014 that determined that no actionable intelligence had resulted from the interrogation methods, Cheney rejected the conclusions as "full of crap". He told Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to take steps and create programmes to capture the perpetrators who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it would not recur. That was specifically what they did and they deserve a lot of recognition."
Public Image
Cheney reveled in monikers imposed on him by detractors such as the Star Wars villain and the sinister presence, and by the notion that he was a dark force manipulating Bush. In the journalist's 2013 volume 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 remains unseen come out of his hole? This represents a effective way to operate, truthfully."
Corporate Connections
Debate over his commercial relationships pursued him through his period as vice-president. Even though he had minimal expertise in commerce but strong connections in defence, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's largest petroleum companies, in 1995 as chair and top executive.
In 2000 he became Bush's running mate for the executive branch. Contentiously, during the military campaign, Halliburton was granted US deals worth substantial sums.
It greatly increased his wealth. His yearly earnings during his period at the company rose from his quarter-million dollars when he was military head to over four million. When he resigned in 2000 he had a package totaling over $20m|twenty
