The former US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who has died at age 84, was considered among the most influential incumbents of that office in US history. While numerous VPs were limited to marginal or figurehead functions, Cheney held substantial influence during the administration of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was commonly referred to as the "actual president".
Bush disliked that description and claimed the dynamic was more complicated. He pointed out that Cheney was deferential, invariably calling him in public as the President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush disputed even characterisations of their partnership as a partnership because it implied that they were on equal footing. Regardless of these denials, Cheney viewed the relaxed president malleable on a broad range of administrative determinations.
The Period Following the Attacks
At the head of a group of neo-cons that included military head Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated 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 taking part in a gathering at a educational institution in Florida. While Bush headed for a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, directing the destruction of any non-communicating planes heading toward the government building.
Cheney claimed the strikes altered his perspective, causing him to be determined on revenge. Along with other conservative figures, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a takeover of Afghanistan in an attempt to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the military action of Iraq, even though there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein playing a role.
Controversial Policies
He showed no remorse about the military campaign, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis perished, and not about the waterboarding of suspects captured after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was predicated on misleading intelligence repeated by Cheney, was the proper path to take. "It represented the proper decision to do at that time. I believed it then and I maintain that stance today."
But even at the time, there were dissenting voices at a top tier about the botched execution of Iraq. One of the White House's own representatives to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the position. "I saw, at a minimum," he later wrote "true dereliction, inaction, and recklessness: at worst, falsehoods, incompetence, and dishonesty."
Broader Context
Cheney was not entirely responsible for the Iraq invasion. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for such action. He had composed a document setting out situations in which US concerns might be threatened (including "availability of vital raw materials, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "America should be postured to act independently when cooperative measures cannot be orchestrated," explicitly referencing military moves against Iraq.
Bush also had entered the presidency somewhat determined on executing what his father had famously refused to do in 1991; topple Saddam. Following he had been dismissed by the president, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his objective of diminishing America's engagement in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and proposed military action against Iraq.
Bush bore a individual resentment against Saddam, thinking he had been behind a scheme to assassinate his parent, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He also disliked that one of the largest establishments in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a image of his predecessor's visage that everyone had to walk over.
Investigation Approaches
Yet it was Cheney who was among the most vociferous advocating invading Iraq, repeatedly citing intelligence reports that were both weak or totally inaccurate. He backed what the Bush administration politely called as "enhanced interrogation", the employment of waterboarding and physical pressure.
Responding to a Senate analysis in 2014 that determined that no useful information had been obtained through the torture, Cheney dismissed the findings as "full of crap". He stated to Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to establish protocols and establish procedures to catch the perpetrators who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it was not repeated. That is precisely what they did and they earn a lot of credit."
External Perception
Cheney took pleasure in labels assigned to him by detractors such as the dark character and The Prince of Darkness, and by the idea that he was a dark force directing Bush. In the author's 2013 volume about the duo, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is cited as commenting: "Am I the evil genius in the background that remains unseen leave his domain? This represents a nice way to operate, truthfully."
Commercial Ties
Debate over his corporate affiliations accompanied him throughout his time as second-in-command. Even though he had limited background in commerce but established relationships in military, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial petroleum companies, in 1995 as leader and chief executive.
In 2000 he was selected as Bush's running mate for the White House. Controversially, during the military campaign, Halliburton was granted US deals valued at billions.
It made him rich. His yearly compensation during his tenure at the company increased from his previous salary during his time as defence secretary to $4.4m. When he resigned in 2000 he had a package worth more than $20m|twenty
