The late US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who has died at the age of 84, was seen as arguably the most influential occupants of the vice-presidency in US history. While countless VPs were limited to marginal or figurehead positions, Cheney exercised substantial sway during the presidency of George W Bush, to the point that he was often referred to as the "actual president".
Bush resented this portrayal and said the connection was more complicated. He observed that Cheney was courteous, invariably addressing him in official appearances as Mr President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush questioned even characterisations of their partnership as a team because it suggested that they were equals. Despite such protestations, Cheney viewed the laidback president malleable on a whole raft of policy decisions.
The Aftermath of 9/11
Leading of a contingent of conservative hawks that included Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the invasion of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been attending a session at a elementary school in Florida. Whereas Bush traveled to a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, directing the destruction of any unidentified planes approaching the government building.
Cheney said the attacks altered his perspective, leading him to become focused on revenge. In conjunction with other neo-conservatives, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a takeover of Afghanistan in an effort to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the invasion of Iraq, though there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein playing a role.
Debated Decisions
He showed no remorse about the military campaign, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis perished, and not about the waterboarding of detainees apprehended after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was predicated on inaccurate information circulated by Cheney, was the right course of action. "It was the proper decision to do then. I had faith back then and I believe it now."
But even at the time, there were dissenting voices at a high level about the botched execution of Iraq. One of the White House's own special envoys to the Middle East, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the post. "I saw, at the very least," he wrote later "clear negligence, negligence, and irresponsibility: potentially, deception, incompetence, and corruption."
Additional Factors
Cheney was not entirely accountable for the Iraq military action. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for comparable steps. He had drafted a memo setting out situations in which American interests might be compromised (featuring "access to vital raw materials, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "the US should be positioned to act independently when cooperative measures prove impossible," specifically citing military moves against Iraq.
Bush too had entered the Oval Office vaguely intent on executing what his predecessor had famously refused to do in 1991; remove Saddam. After he had been fired by the White House, the finance chief Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his objective of lowering America's participation in the Middle East dispute and proposed defense operations against Iraq.
Bush bore a private grievance against Saddam, believing he had been responsible for a conspiracy to murder 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 ground design with a image of his parent's countenance that all visitors had to step on.
Interrogation Methods
However it was Cheney who was one of the most vociferous supporting invading Iraq, consistently citing information documents that were both weak or completely inaccurate. He supported what the Bush administration euphemistically referred to as "advanced techniques", the application of interrogation method and torture.
Answering a Senate analysis in 2014 that found that no useful information had resulted from the harsh techniques, Cheney disregarded the findings as "full of crap". He told Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to implement measures and establish programmes to apprehend the bastards who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it was not repeated. That's exactly what they did and they merit a lot of credit."
Public Image
Cheney took pleasure in labels given to him by critics such as the Star Wars villain and the sinister presence, and by the concept that he was a sinister influence manipulating Bush. In the author's 2013 publication about the pair, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is reported as stating: "Do I represent the evil genius in the background that remains unseen come out of his hole? That is a advantageous way to operate, truthfully."
Business Interests
Controversy over his corporate affiliations accompanied him through his period as second-in-command. Even though he had minimal expertise in corporate affairs but strong connections in security, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial petroleum conglomerates, in 1995 as leader and top executive.
In 2000 he became Bush's VP candidate for the presidency. Contentiously, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was awarded US contracts totaling substantial sums.
It greatly increased his wealth. His annual income during his period at the firm grew from his previous salary when he was military head to millions. When he left in 2000 he had a package totaling over $20m|twenty
