The former US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who has died at age 84, was considered among the most influential occupants of the vice-presidency in US history. Although countless vice-presidents were limited to minor or figurehead roles, Cheney held huge power during the presidency of George W Bush, so much so that he was frequently described as the "true president".
Bush resented that description and stated the connection was more nuanced. He pointed out that Cheney was respectful, consistently referring to him in public as the President, while he called him as Dick. Bush disputed even characterisations of their partnership as a collaboration because it suggested that they were peers. Regardless of such protestations, Cheney found the laidback president malleable on a whole raft of administrative determinations.
The Aftermath of 9/11
At the head of a contingent of conservative hawks that encompassed defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in reaction to the September 11th attacks on New York and Washington. At the time of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been taking part in a meeting at a school in Florida. While Bush headed for a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, ordering the destruction of any unresponsive planes approaching the government building.
Cheney claimed the assaults changed him, making him become focused on revenge. In conjunction with other neo-conservatives, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a occupation of Afghanistan in an effort to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the armed intervention of Iraq, though there was little proof of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Debated Decisions
He voiced no apologies about the armed intervention, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, nor about the enhanced interrogation of suspects captured after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was predicated on misleading information circulated by Cheney, was the right decision. "It represented the correct action to do at that time. I had faith then and I maintain that stance now."
But even at the time, there were contrary opinions at a high level about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the White House's own special envoys to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the role. "I saw, at a minimum," he subsequently stated "clear negligence, negligence, and recklessness: at worst, falsehoods, incompetence, and corruption."
Additional Factors
Cheney was not completely responsible for the Iraq invasion. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for such action. He had composed a memorandum setting out scenarios in which US concerns might be compromised (encompassing "obtaining vital raw materials, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "the US should be postured to operate alone when collective action cannot be arranged," explicitly mentioning armed actions against Iraq.
Bush also had arrived in the presidency vaguely intent on implementing what his parent had famously refused to do in 1991; topple Saddam. Following he had been sacked by the White House, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the first meeting of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his plan of reducing America's participation in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and mooted military action against Iraq.
Bush carried a personal grudge against Saddam, believing he had been behind a conspiracy to assassinate his father, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He also objected to that one of the biggest establishments in Baghdad had a ground design with a image of his parent's visage that all visitors had to step on.
Investigation Approaches
Yet it was Cheney who was among the most vehement behind striking Iraq, frequently referencing agency briefings that were whether weak or totally inaccurate. He backed what the Bush administration euphemistically referred to as "advanced techniques", the employment of waterboarding and harsh treatment.
Addressing a Senate document in 2014 that determined that no actionable intelligence had resulted from the harsh techniques, Cheney rejected the report as "loaded with crap". He informed Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to take steps and create initiatives to capture the perpetrators who took the lives of 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it would not recur. That's exactly what they did and they earn a lot of praise."
External Perception
Cheney enjoyed monikers imposed on him by detractors such as the dark character and the dark figure, and by the idea that he was a sinister influence directing Bush. In the journalist's 2013 publication about the pair, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is quoted as saying: "Do I represent the sinister strategist in the shadows that operates invisibly come out of his lair? This represents a effective way to work, truthfully."
Commercial Ties
Dispute over his commercial relationships accompanied him during his tenure as VP. Even though he had little experience in business but strong connections in defence, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial oil and gas corporations, in 1995 as leader and top executive.
In 2000 he became Bush's VP candidate for the White House. Debatably, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was granted US deals worth multiple billions.
It significantly boosted his finances. His annual income during his tenure at the firm grew from his quarter-million dollars during his time as Pentagon chief to over four million. When he resigned in 2000 he had a compensation package totaling in excess of $20m|twenty
