The former US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who has died at age 84, was regarded as among the most influential occupants of that position in the nation's history. Although many VPs were confined to peripheral or symbolic functions, Cheney exercised substantial sway during the administration of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was frequently described as the "real president".
Bush resented that description and stated the connection was more complex. He observed that Cheney was deferential, invariably addressing him in official appearances as Mr President, while he called him as Dick. Bush disputed even portrayals of their partnership as a partnership because it implied that they were peers. Despite these objections, Cheney viewed the laidback president pliable on a broad range of policy decisions.
A Period Following the Attacks
In charge of a faction of neo-cons that featured Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the military intervention of Iraq in 2003 in reaction to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. At the time of the 9/11 strike, Bush had been attending a meeting at a school in Florida. Whereas Bush traveled to a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, ordering the downing of any non-communicating airplanes approaching the Capitol building.
Cheney claimed the attacks transformed him, leading him to become focused on retaliation. Together with other neo-conservatives, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a invasion of Afghanistan in an attempt to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the military action of Iraq, even though there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein playing a role.
Disputed Actions
He voiced no apologies about the armed intervention, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis died, or about the enhanced interrogation of detainees captured after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was based on faulty intelligence echoed by Cheney, was the correct decision. "It was the right thing to do at that time. I had faith back then and I believe it today."
But during that period, there were opposing views at a senior level about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the White House's own representatives to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the role. "I saw, at a minimum," he subsequently stated "clear negligence, inaction, and unaccountability: potentially, falsehoods, unfitness, and corruption."
Broader Context
Cheney was not entirely responsible for the Iraq invasion. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for such action. He had composed a document outlining scenarios in which national priorities might be threatened (encompassing "access to crucial commodities, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "the US should be postured to operate alone when joint efforts cannot be orchestrated," specifically mentioning armed actions against Iraq.
Bush additionally had entered the Oval Office generally inclined on implementing what his predecessor had famously refused to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. Following he had been dismissed by the president, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his objective of reducing America's involvement in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and mooted armed intervention against Iraq.
Bush held a personal grudge against Saddam, convinced he had been responsible for a plot to assassinate his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally resented that one of the most prominent establishments in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a likeness of his predecessor's countenance that each person had to walk over.
Interrogation Methods
Yet it was Cheney who was part of the most vehement advocating invading Iraq, repeatedly referencing intelligence reports that were either thin or completely inaccurate. He endorsed what the Bush administration politely called as "enhanced interrogation", the application of simulated drowning and torture.
Answering a Senate report in 2014 that found that no valuable data had been obtained through the interrogation methods, Cheney dismissed the conclusions as "riddled with crap". He told Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to take steps and establish initiatives to apprehend the individuals who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it would not recur. That was specifically what they did and they merit a lot of credit."
External Perception
Cheney enjoyed monikers assigned to him by opponents such as the Star Wars villain and The Prince of Darkness, and by the idea that he was a shadow power manipulating Bush. In Peter Baker's 2013 book about the pair, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is cited as commenting: "Is it me who is the sinister strategist in the background that remains unseen come out of his lair? This represents a effective way to work, actually."
Business Interests
Debate over his corporate affiliations followed him throughout his time as vice-president. Even though he had minimal expertise in business but good contacts in security, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's largest energy companies, in 1995 as chair and CEO.
In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's election partner for the presidency. Contentiously, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was given US agreements totaling billions.
It made him rich. His annual income during his period at the corporation grew from his quarter-million dollars during his time as military head to millions. When he departed in 2000 he had a severance arrangement totaling more than $20m|twenty
