The former US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who has died at age 84, was considered among the most influential holders of that office in American history. While countless VPs had to settle for minor or ceremonial positions, Cheney held enormous sway during the presidency of George W Bush, to the point that he was often referred to as the "real president".
Bush objected to this portrayal and claimed the dynamic was more nuanced. He pointed out that Cheney was deferential, always referring to him in public as President, while he called him as Dick. Bush challenged even characterisations of their relationship as a collaboration because it suggested that they were on equal footing. Despite such protestations, Cheney considered the easygoing president accommodating on a whole raft of administrative determinations.
The Aftermath of 9/11
In charge of a group of conservative hawks that included Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the armed incursion 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 gathering at a elementary school in Florida. While Bush made his way to a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney took command, ordering the shooting down of any unidentified airplanes approaching the Capitol building.
Cheney claimed the strikes transformed him, causing him to be determined on revenge. Along with other neo-cons, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a occupation of Afghanistan in an endeavor to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the armed intervention of Iraq, though there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Disputed Actions
He showed no remorse about the military campaign, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis perished, or about the harsh treatment of detainees captured after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was predicated on inaccurate reports circulated by Cheney, was the proper course of action. "It represented the right thing to do at that time. I believed it back then and I believe it presently."
However during that period, there were opposing views at a high level about the poor management of Iraq. One of the White House's own representatives to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the role. "I observed, at the very least," he subsequently stated "true dereliction, inaction, and unaccountability: potentially, deception, unfitness, and dishonesty."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not solely responsible for the Iraq invasion. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for comparable steps. He had drafted a document setting out scenarios in which national priorities might be compromised (including "access to essential resources, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "the US should be positioned to act independently when collective action prove impossible," specifically citing defense operations against Iraq.
Bush too had assumed the presidency vaguely intent on executing what his parent had notably declined to do in 1991; remove Saddam. Subsequent to he had been sacked by the president, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill disclosed how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his objective of lowering America's participation in the Middle East dispute and mooted defense operations against Iraq.
Bush held a personal grudge against Saddam, convinced he had been behind a scheme to kill his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore disliked that one of the largest establishments in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a likeness of his predecessor's countenance that each person had to walk over.
Questioning Techniques
But it was Cheney who was part of the most vehement behind striking Iraq, frequently referencing agency briefings that were both insubstantial or totally misleading. He backed what the Bush White House euphemistically referred to as "advanced techniques", the employment of waterboarding and torture.
Answering a Senate document in 2014 that determined that no actionable intelligence had come from the harsh techniques, Cheney dismissed the findings as "loaded with crap". He told Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to take steps and put in place procedures to capture the individuals who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it was not repeated. That's exactly what they did and they deserve a lot of praise."
Public Image
Cheney took pleasure in nicknames imposed on him by opponents such as the Star Wars villain and The Prince of Darkness, and by the notion that he was a dark force directing 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 shadows that remains unseen leave his lair? It's a advantageous way to function, in fact."
Corporate Connections
Debate over his commercial relationships pursued him during his tenure as VP. Although he had minimal expertise in corporate affairs but good contacts in military, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial oil and gas corporations, in 1995 as chairman and CEO.
In 2000 he became Bush's running mate for the executive branch. Debatably, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was awarded US deals worth billions.
It greatly increased his wealth. His yearly earnings during his period at the corporation grew from his $258,394 when he was Pentagon chief to millions. When he left in 2000 he had a package worth in excess of $20m|twenty
