The former US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who has died at age 84, was considered arguably the most influential incumbents of that office in American history. Whereas many VPs were confined to minor or symbolic positions, Cheney exercised substantial power during the term of George W Bush, so much so that he was frequently called as the "true president".
Bush objected to that description and claimed the dynamic was more complicated. He noted that Cheney was deferential, invariably calling him in public as the President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush challenged even descriptions of their association as a partnership because it implied that they were on equal footing. Regardless of these denials, Cheney found the laidback president malleable on a whole raft of governmental choices.
The Period Following the Attacks
In charge of a contingent of neo-cons that included Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the military intervention of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 strike, Bush had been participating in a session at a educational institution in Florida. Whereas Bush made his way to a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney took command, ordering the destruction of any unresponsive airplanes nearing the Capitol building.
Cheney stated the attacks changed him, making him become determined on retaliation. In conjunction with other neo-conservatives, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a occupation of Afghanistan in an endeavor to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then pressed fiercely for the armed intervention of Iraq, though there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein having involvement.
Controversial Actions
He expressed no regrets about the military campaign, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, or about the harsh treatment of suspects captured after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was based on faulty information circulated by Cheney, was the right decision. "It was the right thing to do back then. I believed it then and I maintain that stance presently."
However even at the time, there were opposing views at a high level about the botched execution of Iraq. One of the White House's own representatives to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the position. "I observed, at a minimum," he later wrote "true dereliction, negligence, and irresponsibility: potentially, lying, unfitness, and dishonesty."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not completely to blame for the Iraq campaign. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for comparable steps. He had written a memo outlining situations in which national priorities might be endangered (including "availability of crucial commodities, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "the United States should be prepared to operate alone when joint efforts prove impossible," particularly referencing armed actions against Iraq.
Bush too had assumed the Oval Office vaguely intent on implementing what his father had famously refused to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. Following he had been sacked by the president, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his plan of diminishing America's engagement in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and proposed armed intervention against Iraq.
Bush carried a individual resentment against Saddam, believing he had been behind a conspiracy to kill his parent, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He also disliked that one of the most prominent accommodations in Baghdad had a floor mural with a likeness of his parent's countenance that everyone had to step on.
Questioning Techniques
But it was Cheney who was part of the most vociferous supporting striking Iraq, consistently citing information documents that were both thin or entirely deceptive. He supported what the Bush White House indirectly described as "advanced techniques", the use of simulated drowning and harsh treatment.
Answering a Senate document in 2014 that determined that no actionable intelligence had resulted from the interrogation methods, Cheney dismissed the conclusions as "loaded with crap". He stated to Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to establish protocols and create programmes to apprehend the individuals who took the lives of 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it never happened again. That is precisely what they did and they merit a lot of credit."
Public Persona
Cheney enjoyed labels given to him by detractors such as Darth Vader and the sinister presence, and by the concept that he was a dark force controlling Bush. In the journalist's 2013 book about the duo, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is cited as commenting: "Am I the malevolent mastermind in the shadows that remains unseen leave his hole? This represents a nice way to work, truthfully."
Corporate Connections
Debate over his business interests pursued him throughout his time as VP. Although he had little experience in business but established relationships in defence, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial energy conglomerates, in 1995 as chair and CEO.
In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's running mate for the executive branch. Debatably, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was awarded US agreements worth substantial sums.
It significantly boosted his finances. His yearly earnings during his tenure at the firm rose from his quarter-million dollars while defence secretary to over four million. When he resigned in 2000 he had a severance arrangement worth more than $20m|twenty
