The former US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who has died at age 84, was seen as among the most powerful incumbents of the vice-presidency in US history. Although countless VPs were limited to peripheral or figurehead roles, Cheney held enormous power during the term of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was commonly called as the "real president".
Bush disliked such a characterisation and stated the connection was more complicated. He pointed out that Cheney was courteous, invariably addressing him in official appearances as Mr President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush challenged even portrayals of their partnership as a collaboration because it implied that they were peers. In spite of these objections, Cheney viewed the easygoing president malleable on a wide array of governmental choices.
The Post-9/11 Era
In charge of a contingent of neo-conservatives that included Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the military intervention of Iraq in 2003 in response to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been attending a session at a school in Florida. Whereas Bush headed for a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, ordering the destruction of any unidentified planes approaching the government building.
Cheney claimed the assaults transformed him, leading him to become determined on retaliation. In conjunction with other neo-cons, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a invasion of Afghanistan in an effort to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then pressed fiercely for the military action of Iraq, though there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein having involvement.
Debated Policies
He expressed no regrets about the military campaign, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, nor about the waterboarding of individuals rounded up after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was based on faulty intelligence circulated by Cheney, was the correct path to take. "It was the proper decision to do then. I had faith then and I hold that view today."
But even then, there were dissenting voices at a senior level about the botched execution of Iraq. One of the White House's own representatives to the Middle East, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the post. "I witnessed, as a baseline," he subsequently stated "obvious failure, inaction, and unaccountability: potentially, falsehoods, incompetence, and corruption."
Additional Factors
Cheney was not entirely to blame for the Iraq invasion. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for such action. He had drafted a document detailing situations in which national priorities might be endangered (featuring "obtaining essential resources, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "the US should be prepared to operate alone when joint efforts cannot be orchestrated," explicitly referencing armed actions against Iraq.
Bush also had arrived in the presidency somewhat determined on executing what his parent had famously refused to do in 1991; remove Saddam. After he had been dismissed by the administration, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his intention of diminishing America's involvement in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and mooted armed intervention against Iraq.
Bush held a individual resentment against Saddam, convinced he had been involved in a plot to assassinate his father, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore resented that one of the biggest establishments in Baghdad had a floor mural with a image of his parent's visage that everyone had to tread upon.
Interrogation Methods
But it was Cheney who was one of the most vehement supporting striking Iraq, frequently quoting information documents that were both thin or entirely deceptive. He backed what the Bush government indirectly described as "enhanced interrogation", the application of simulated drowning and torture.
Responding to a Senate analysis in 2014 that concluded that no actionable intelligence had resulted from the harsh techniques, Cheney rejected the conclusions as "full of crap". He stated to Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to take steps and create programmes to capture the individuals who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it never happened again. That was specifically what they did and they earn a lot of praise."
Public Persona
Cheney reveled in labels given to him by detractors such as the dark character and the sinister presence, and by the concept that he was a sinister influence directing Bush. In Peter Baker'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 malevolent mastermind in the corner that operates invisibly emerge from his domain? That is a advantageous way to operate, in fact."
Corporate Connections
Debate over his corporate affiliations followed him throughout his time as VP. Even though he had minimal expertise in corporate affairs but strong connections in defence, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's biggest oil and gas companies, in 1995 as chair and top executive.
In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's election partner for the White House. Contentiously, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was given US deals valued at multiple billions.
It made him rich. His yearly compensation during his tenure at the company rose from his previous salary during his time as military head to over four million. When he left in 2000 he had a compensation package worth more than $20m|twenty
