The deceased US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who has died at the age of 84, was seen as one of the most significant occupants of the vice-presidency in American history. Although countless vice-presidents were confined to peripheral or figurehead positions, Cheney exercised substantial sway during the presidency of George W Bush, to the point that he was frequently called as the "actual president".
Bush resented such a characterisation and said the dynamic was more complex. He observed that Cheney was courteous, invariably referring to him in public as President, while he called him as Dick. Bush questioned even portrayals of their association as a partnership because it indicated that they were on equal footing. Regardless of such protestations, Cheney found the laidback president malleable on a whole raft of policy decisions.
A Post-9/11 Era
Leading of a group of conservative hawks that featured Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the September 11th attacks on New York and Washington. During of the 9/11 assault, Bush had been taking part in a session at a school in Florida. As Bush traveled to a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, ordering the shooting down of any unidentified aircraft heading toward the US Capitol.
Cheney stated the assaults changed him, causing him to be intent on retribution. Along with other neo-conservatives, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a invasion of Afghanistan in an endeavor to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the armed intervention of Iraq, even though there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Disputed Decisions
He voiced no apologies about the armed intervention, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, or about the harsh treatment of detainees rounded up after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was based on misleading intelligence echoed by Cheney, was the proper path to take. "It proved to be the correct action to do then. I was convinced at the time and I hold that view now."
But even at the time, there were dissenting voices at a high level about the botched execution of Iraq. One of the administration's own delegates to the Middle East, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the position. "I saw, at a minimum," he subsequently stated "clear negligence, carelessness, and unaccountability: in the worst case, falsehoods, incompetence, and corruption."
Additional Factors
Cheney was not solely responsible for the Iraq campaign. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for similar measures. He had written a memo outlining circumstances in which American interests might be threatened (featuring "obtaining essential resources, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "the United States should be postured to take unilateral action when joint efforts prove impossible," explicitly referencing defense operations against Iraq.
Bush also had assumed the presidency somewhat determined on executing what his parent had notably declined to do in 1991; remove Saddam. After he had been fired by the administration, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the first meeting of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his objective of reducing America's engagement in the Middle East dispute and mooted military action against Iraq.
Bush carried a private grievance against Saddam, believing he had been involved in a plot to assassinate his parent, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He also objected to that one of the largest hotels in Baghdad had a floor mural with a likeness of his predecessor's visage that everyone had to tread upon.
Investigation Approaches
Yet it was Cheney who was one of the most vehement behind invading Iraq, consistently citing intelligence reports that were whether weak or entirely misleading. He backed what the Bush government politely called as "advanced techniques", the use of waterboarding and harsh treatment.
Answering a Senate report in 2014 that determined that no actionable intelligence had been obtained through the interrogation methods, Cheney disregarded the report as "full of crap". He stated to Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to implement measures and put in place procedures to apprehend the bastards who took the lives of 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it never happened again. That's exactly what they did and they merit a lot of credit."
Public Image
Cheney enjoyed monikers imposed on him by detractors such as Darth Vader and the dark figure, and by the concept that he was a sinister influence controlling 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 sinister strategist in the corner that remains unseen emerge from his domain? That is a effective way to operate, truthfully."
Commercial Ties
Debate over his business interests pursued him during his tenure as VP. Although he had little experience in commerce but strong connections in military, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's largest petroleum corporations, in 1995 as leader and CEO.
In 2000 he became Bush's running mate for the presidency. Controversially, during the military campaign, Halliburton was given US contracts totaling billions.
It made him rich. His yearly compensation during his time at the corporation rose from his previous salary when he was Pentagon chief to millions. When he left in 2000 he had a severance arrangement worth more than $20m|twenty
