The former 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 American history. While countless second-in-commands had to settle for minor or ceremonial positions, Cheney exercised huge power during the term of George W Bush, so much so that he was often referred to as the "true president".
Bush resented such a characterisation and claimed the connection was more complicated. He pointed out that Cheney was deferential, always addressing him in public as the President, while he called him as Dick. Bush questioned even portrayals of their relationship as a collaboration because it implied that they were peers. In spite of these denials, Cheney viewed the laidback president malleable on a broad range of governmental choices.
A Aftermath of 9/11
At the head of a group of neo-cons that featured military head Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the invasion of Iraq in 2003 in reaction to the September 11th attacks on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 assault, Bush had been taking part in a gathering at a educational institution in Florida. As Bush headed for a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, commanding the downing of any unidentified aircraft nearing the Capitol building.
Cheney stated the attacks altered his perspective, making him become focused on retribution. In conjunction with other conservative figures, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a invasion of Afghanistan in an attempt to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the military action of Iraq, even though there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein playing a role.
Disputed Policies
He expressed no regrets about the military campaign, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, or about the enhanced interrogation of individuals apprehended after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was predicated on inaccurate information echoed by Cheney, was the proper decision. "It was the correct action to do at that time. I was convinced back then and I hold that view now."
But even then, there were dissenting voices at a top tier 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 position. "I saw, at the very least," he later wrote "obvious failure, carelessness, and unaccountability: in the worst case, lying, ineptitude, and dishonesty."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not completely responsible for the Iraq invasion. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for similar measures. He had drafted a memo setting out situations in which American interests might be endangered (featuring "obtaining crucial commodities, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "the US should be prepared to operate alone when collective action cannot be orchestrated," specifically referencing military moves against Iraq.
Bush too had arrived in the presidency vaguely intent on executing what his predecessor had notably declined to do in 1991; remove Saddam. Following he had been fired by the White House, the finance chief Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his plan of reducing America's participation in the regional tensions and proposed defense operations against Iraq.
Bush held a individual resentment against Saddam, convinced he had been responsible for a plot to kill his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He also resented that one of the largest hotels in Baghdad had a floor mural with a portrait of his father's countenance that everyone had to step on.
Interrogation Methods
However it was Cheney who was part of the most outspoken supporting invading Iraq, repeatedly quoting agency briefings that were whether weak or entirely inaccurate. He backed what the Bush government euphemistically referred to as "intensive questioning", the use of simulated drowning and physical pressure.
Answering a Senate document in 2014 that found that no valuable data had come from the torture, Cheney rejected the report as "loaded with crap". He informed Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to take steps and create procedures to catch the individuals who took the lives of 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it would not recur. That's exactly what they did and they merit a lot of praise."
Public Persona
Cheney reveled in labels imposed on him by opponents such as Darth Vader and the dark figure, and by the idea that he was a shadow power directing Bush. In the journalist'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 sinister strategist in the corner that operates invisibly come out of his hole? This represents a nice way to work, in fact."
Corporate Connections
Debate over his corporate affiliations followed him through his period as second-in-command. Although he had minimal expertise in commerce but established relationships in security, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's biggest petroleum corporations, in 1995 as chair and top executive.
In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's election partner for the executive branch. Contentiously, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was awarded US deals valued at billions.
It made him rich. His yearly compensation during his period at the firm grew from his $258,394 when he was military head to millions. When he departed in 2000 he had a severance arrangement worth in excess of $20m|twenty
