The former US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who has died at the age of 84, was regarded as arguably the most significant occupants of that position in American history. Whereas many VPs had to settle for peripheral or symbolic roles, Cheney exercised enormous sway during the administration of George W Bush, so much so that he was often called as the "real president".
Bush disliked that description and claimed the dynamic was more complicated. He pointed out that Cheney was deferential, invariably addressing him in public as Mr President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush disputed even characterisations of their association as a partnership because it implied that they were equals. Despite these objections, Cheney viewed the laidback president pliable on a whole raft of policy decisions.
A Period Following the Attacks
In charge of a contingent of neo-conservatives that included military head Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the invasion of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 strike, Bush had been taking part in a meeting at a educational institution in Florida. While Bush made his way to a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, ordering the destruction of any unidentified airplanes heading toward the Capitol building.
Cheney stated the assaults altered his perspective, leading him to become focused on revenge. Along with other neo-cons, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a takeover of Afghanistan in an effort to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then pressed fiercely for the armed intervention of Iraq, although there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein having involvement.
Debated Policies
He voiced no apologies about the armed intervention, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis perished, nor about the harsh treatment of individuals rounded up after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was based on faulty information circulated by Cheney, was the proper path to take. "It proved to be the proper decision to do back then. I was convinced then and I believe it presently."
But even at the time, there were dissenting voices at a senior level about the botched execution of Iraq. One of the administration's own special envoys to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the position. "I observed, as a baseline," he later wrote "true dereliction, inaction, and unaccountability: in the worst case, deception, unfitness, and corruption."
Additional Factors
Cheney was not solely to blame for the Iraq military action. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for comparable steps. He had drafted a document outlining circumstances in which American interests might be compromised (encompassing "obtaining essential resources, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "the US should be positioned to act independently when collective action cannot be orchestrated," particularly referencing defense operations against Iraq.
Bush additionally had entered the Oval Office somewhat determined on executing what his predecessor had notably declined to do in 1991; topple Saddam. After he had been sacked by the White House, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the first meeting of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his objective of reducing America's involvement in the regional tensions and proposed military action against Iraq.
Bush bore a private grievance against Saddam, believing he had been responsible for a conspiracy to assassinate his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He also objected to that one of the largest hotels in Baghdad had a floor mural with a portrait of his parent's visage that all visitors had to walk over.
Questioning Techniques
However it was Cheney who was one of the most vehement supporting striking Iraq, consistently referencing information documents that were both thin or entirely inaccurate. He endorsed what the Bush White House euphemistically referred to as "intensive questioning", the application of interrogation method and physical pressure.
Responding to a Senate report in 2014 that concluded that no useful information had come from the interrogation methods, Cheney rejected the report as "loaded with crap". He told Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to take steps and establish procedures to catch the perpetrators who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it was not repeated. That was specifically what they did and they earn a lot of credit."
External Perception
Cheney took pleasure in monikers assigned to him by critics such as Darth Vader and The Prince of Darkness, and by the concept that he was a sinister influence directing Bush. In Peter Baker's 2013 publication about the pair, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is quoted as saying: "Is it me who is the sinister strategist in the background that remains unseen come out of his domain? That is a effective way to work, in fact."
Commercial Ties
Dispute over his corporate affiliations accompanied him throughout his time as second-in-command. Although he had limited background in commerce but established relationships in security, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's biggest petroleum conglomerates, in 1995 as chair and top executive.
In 2000 he became Bush's VP candidate for the presidency. Contentiously, during the military campaign, Halliburton was awarded US contracts totaling billions.
It significantly boosted his finances. His yearly earnings during his time at the firm rose from his $258,394 during his time as Pentagon chief to over four million. When he resigned in 2000 he had a compensation package totaling over $20m|twenty
