The late US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who has died at age 84, was regarded as one of the most powerful occupants of that position in US history. Whereas many VPs were confined to peripheral or figurehead roles, Cheney held enormous sway during the administration of George W Bush, to the point that he was commonly called as the "true president".
Bush disliked such a characterisation and said the connection was more complicated. He observed that Cheney was courteous, consistently calling him in public settings as the President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush questioned even descriptions of their relationship as a partnership because it suggested that they were peers. In spite of such protestations, Cheney considered the easygoing president malleable on a broad range of administrative determinations.
The Period Following the Attacks
At the head of a contingent of neo-conservatives that included military head Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in reaction to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 assault, Bush had been attending a meeting at a school in Florida. As Bush made his way to a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, commanding the destruction of any unresponsive airplanes approaching the US Capitol.
Cheney said the strikes changed him, leading him to become intent on revenge. Along with other conservative figures, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a takeover of Afghanistan in an attempt to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the military action of Iraq, although there was little proof of Saddam Hussein having involvement.
Disputed Actions
He voiced no apologies about the invasion, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, nor about the harsh treatment of suspects captured after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was predicated on misleading information repeated by Cheney, was the proper course of action. "It represented the proper decision to do at that time. I had faith back then and I maintain that stance now."
Yet even at the time, there were opposing views at a high level about the poor management of Iraq. One of the administration's own delegates to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the post. "I witnessed, as a baseline," he subsequently stated "true dereliction, carelessness, and irresponsibility: in the worst case, lying, unfitness, and dishonesty."
Additional Factors
Cheney was not entirely responsible for the Iraq invasion. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for comparable steps. He had composed a document outlining scenarios in which US concerns might be endangered (encompassing "obtaining vital raw materials, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "the United States should be postured to take unilateral action when collective action cannot be orchestrated," specifically mentioning military moves against Iraq.
Bush too had assumed the presidency generally inclined on implementing what his parent had famously refused to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. Subsequent to he had been dismissed by the White House, the finance chief Paul O'Neill disclosed how, at the first meeting of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his objective of reducing America's involvement in the regional tensions and suggested defense operations against Iraq.
Bush held a individual resentment against Saddam, convinced he had been behind a plot to murder his father, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He also resented that one of the largest hotels in Baghdad had a ground design with a likeness of his parent's countenance that everyone had to tread upon.
Interrogation Methods
Yet it was Cheney who was among the most vociferous supporting striking Iraq, repeatedly citing information documents that were both weak or entirely misleading. He endorsed what the Bush administration politely called as "advanced techniques", the use of interrogation method and physical pressure.
Answering a Senate document in 2014 that concluded that no valuable data had been obtained through the interrogation methods, Cheney dismissed the report as "full of crap". He informed Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to establish protocols and create initiatives to catch the individuals who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it was not repeated. That is precisely what they did and they deserve a lot of credit."
Public Image
Cheney took pleasure in nicknames given to him by critics such as the Star Wars villain and the sinister presence, and by the idea 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 cited as commenting: "Is it me who is the evil genius in the shadows that nobody ever sees emerge from his lair? This represents a advantageous way to operate, actually."
Commercial Ties
Debate over his business interests followed him through his period as second-in-command. While he had minimal expertise in corporate affairs but good contacts in security, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's biggest energy companies, in 1995 as chairman and chief executive.
In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's VP candidate for the presidency. Controversially, during the military campaign, Halliburton was awarded US contracts totaling billions.
It made him rich. His yearly compensation during his period at the company increased from his $258,394 during his time as military head to over four million. When he left in 2000 he had a severance arrangement worth more than $20m|twenty
