The late US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who has died at age 84, was seen as arguably the most significant occupants of the vice-presidency in the nation's history. Although countless VPs had to settle for minor or ceremonial roles, Cheney held huge sway during the term of George W Bush, to the point that he was commonly described as the "real president".
Bush objected to such a characterisation and said the connection was more nuanced. He noted that Cheney was respectful, consistently referring to him in official appearances as President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush disputed even descriptions of their association as a partnership because it indicated that they were peers. Despite these denials, Cheney viewed the easygoing president accommodating on a wide array of governmental choices.
A Period Following the Attacks
In charge of a faction of neo-cons that encompassed defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the military intervention of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the September 11th attacks on New York and Washington. During of the 9/11 strike, Bush had been attending a session at a elementary school in Florida. Whereas Bush headed for a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney took command, directing the downing of any unidentified airplanes nearing the US Capitol.
Cheney stated the attacks transformed him, causing him to be intent on retaliation. Along with other neo-cons, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a takeover of Afghanistan in an effort to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the invasion of Iraq, although there was little proof of Saddam Hussein playing a role.
Debated Actions
He showed no remorse about the armed intervention, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis perished, nor about the waterboarding of detainees rounded up after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was founded on inaccurate intelligence echoed by Cheney, was the right decision. "It represented the correct action to do at that time. I believed it back then and I maintain that stance presently."
Yet even at the time, there were contrary opinions at a top tier about the botched execution of Iraq. One of the government's own delegates to the Middle East, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the post. "I saw, as a baseline," he wrote later "obvious failure, negligence, and recklessness: at worst, lying, ineptitude, and corruption."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not solely to blame for the Iraq campaign. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for similar measures. He had composed a memo outlining circumstances in which American interests might be endangered (featuring "availability of vital raw materials, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "America should be positioned to act independently when joint efforts prove impossible," explicitly referencing armed actions against Iraq.
Bush also had assumed the White House generally inclined on implementing what his predecessor had specifically avoided to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. Following he had been sacked by the president, the finance chief Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his objective of lowering America's engagement in the Middle East dispute and proposed armed intervention against Iraq.
Bush held a individual resentment against Saddam, thinking he had been behind a scheme to assassinate his parent, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He also resented that one of the largest hotels in Baghdad had a ground design with a portrait of his predecessor's face that all visitors had to walk over.
Questioning Techniques
However it was Cheney who was part of the most vehement supporting invading Iraq, frequently quoting information documents that were whether insubstantial or entirely deceptive. He endorsed what the Bush White House politely called as "enhanced interrogation", the use of simulated drowning and torture.
Answering a Senate analysis in 2014 that concluded that no useful information had come from the interrogation methods, Cheney dismissed the findings as "loaded with crap". He told Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to take steps and put in place initiatives to capture the individuals who took the lives of 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it never happened again. That is precisely what they did and they merit a lot of recognition."
Public Persona
Cheney enjoyed labels imposed on him by detractors such as the Star Wars villain and the sinister presence, and by the notion that he was a shadow power manipulating Bush. In the journalist's 2013 publication 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 background that remains unseen leave his hole? This represents a nice way to function, in fact."
Commercial Ties
Dispute over his corporate affiliations followed him throughout his time as VP. While he had minimal expertise in business but established relationships in security, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's largest energy corporations, in 1995 as chairman and top executive.
In 2000 he was selected as Bush's running mate for the presidency. Debatably, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was granted US deals valued at substantial sums.
It greatly increased his wealth. His annual income during his period at the firm rose from his previous salary when he was military head to over four million. When he departed in 2000 he had a compensation package worth more than $20m|twenty
