The late US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who has died at the age of 84, was seen as arguably the most influential holders of that position in American history. Although countless VPs were limited to peripheral or figurehead positions, Cheney exercised enormous power during the administration of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was commonly described as the "actual president".
Bush disliked that description and said the connection was more complex. He observed that Cheney was respectful, always calling him in public settings as the President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush disputed even characterisations of their partnership as a partnership because it suggested that they were peers. Regardless of these denials, Cheney considered the laidback president malleable on a whole raft of administrative determinations.
A Post-9/11 Era
At the head of a faction of conservative hawks that encompassed Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. At the time of the 9/11 assault, Bush had been participating in a session at a educational institution in Florida. Whereas Bush traveled to a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney took command, ordering the shooting down of any unresponsive airplanes nearing the US Capitol.
Cheney claimed the attacks transformed him, leading him to become intent on revenge. Together with other neo-cons, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a takeover of Afghanistan in an attempt to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then pressed fiercely for the armed intervention of Iraq, even though there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein having involvement.
Controversial Decisions
He voiced no apologies about the military campaign, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, or about the harsh treatment of suspects apprehended after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was founded on misleading intelligence circulated by Cheney, was the correct path to take. "It represented the right thing to do back then. I believed it at the time and I maintain that stance today."
However even then, there were opposing views at a senior level about the botched execution of Iraq. One of the government's own delegates to the Middle East, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the post. "I witnessed, at the very least," he wrote later "true dereliction, negligence, and irresponsibility: at worst, deception, incompetence, and graft."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not entirely responsible for the Iraq military action. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for similar measures. He had drafted a document setting out circumstances in which American interests might be compromised (featuring "access to vital raw materials, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "the United States should be positioned to act independently when collective action prove impossible," specifically referencing military moves against Iraq.
Bush too had assumed the White House generally inclined on executing what his father had specifically avoided to do in 1991; remove Saddam. Subsequent to he had been dismissed by the White House, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill disclosed how, at the first meeting of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his intention of diminishing America's involvement in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and suggested armed intervention against Iraq.
Bush held a personal grudge against Saddam, thinking he had been behind a plot to assassinate his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore resented that one of the biggest hotels in Baghdad had a floor mural with a image of his predecessor's countenance that everyone had to tread upon.
Interrogation Methods
Yet it was Cheney who was among the most vehement supporting attacking Iraq, repeatedly quoting intelligence reports that were both insubstantial or totally inaccurate. He backed what the Bush government politely called as "advanced techniques", the application of waterboarding and physical pressure.
Addressing a Senate analysis in 2014 that found that no actionable intelligence had come from the harsh techniques, Cheney rejected the conclusions as "full of crap". He informed Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to establish protocols and establish procedures to apprehend the bastards who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it never happened again. That was specifically what they did and they earn a lot of praise."
External Perception
Cheney took pleasure in labels imposed on him by opponents such as Darth Vader and The Prince of Darkness, and by the notion that he was a dark force controlling Bush. In the author's 2013 publication about the two, 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 remains unseen emerge from his lair? It's a nice way to function, actually."
Commercial Ties
Controversy over his business interests accompanied him through his period as vice-president. While he had little experience in commerce but good contacts in military, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's biggest petroleum companies, in 1995 as chair and CEO.
In 2000 he became Bush's election partner for the executive branch. Debatably, during the military campaign, Halliburton was granted US agreements totaling substantial sums.
It greatly increased his wealth. His yearly earnings during his tenure at the firm rose from his $258,394 while military head to millions. When he resigned in 2000 he had a compensation package valued at more than $20m|twenty
