The former 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 US history. Although many vice-presidents had to settle for marginal or symbolic functions, Cheney exercised huge influence during the presidency of George W Bush, to the point that he was often referred to as the "actual president".
Bush disliked that description and stated the dynamic was more complex. He noted that Cheney was deferential, invariably addressing him in public settings as President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush questioned even descriptions of their partnership as a partnership because it suggested that they were equals. In spite of these denials, Cheney viewed the relaxed president malleable on a whole raft of administrative determinations.
The Post-9/11 Era
In charge of a contingent of neo-cons that encompassed Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the invasion of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. At the time of the 9/11 assault, Bush had been attending a gathering at a elementary school in Florida. As Bush traveled to a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney took command, directing the shooting down of any non-communicating airplanes approaching the government building.
Cheney claimed the strikes transformed him, leading him to become focused on retaliation. Together with other neo-conservatives, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a invasion of Afghanistan in an effort to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then pressed fiercely for the military action of Iraq, although there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein having involvement.
Disputed Actions
He voiced no apologies about the armed intervention, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, or about the harsh treatment of detainees captured after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was founded on misleading information echoed by Cheney, was the correct decision. "It was the proper decision to do at that time. I believed it at the time and I believe it presently."
But even then, there were dissenting voices at a senior level about the poor management of Iraq. One of the White House's own representatives to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the role. "I witnessed, as a baseline," he subsequently stated "true dereliction, carelessness, and irresponsibility: at worst, falsehoods, ineptitude, and dishonesty."
Broader Context
Cheney was not solely responsible for the Iraq campaign. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for such action. He had written a memo outlining situations in which US concerns might be endangered (featuring "obtaining crucial commodities, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "the United States should be positioned to take unilateral action when cooperative measures cannot be orchestrated," specifically mentioning defense operations against Iraq.
Bush additionally had assumed the presidency vaguely intent on carrying out what his father had famously refused to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. Subsequent to he had been fired by the White House, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill disclosed how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his objective of lowering America's involvement in the regional tensions and mooted defense operations against Iraq.
Bush carried a individual resentment against Saddam, believing he had been responsible for a conspiracy to kill his parent, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally objected to that one of the largest establishments in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a portrait of his predecessor's visage that all visitors had to tread upon.
Questioning Techniques
Yet it was Cheney who was among the most vehement supporting attacking Iraq, consistently citing intelligence reports that were either weak or entirely deceptive. He supported what the Bush White House politely called as "intensive questioning", the application of simulated drowning and torture.
Responding to a Senate analysis in 2014 that concluded that no valuable data had come from the torture, Cheney disregarded the conclusions as "full of crap". He informed Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to take steps and establish programmes to catch the bastards who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it would not recur. That is precisely what they did and they earn a lot of credit."
Public Image
Cheney reveled in monikers imposed on him by critics such as the Star Wars villain and the dark figure, and by the notion that he was a shadow power manipulating Bush. In the journalist's 2013 volume about the duo, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is quoted as saying: "Am I the sinister strategist in the corner that operates invisibly come out of his hole? That is a effective way to operate, actually."
Commercial Ties
Dispute over his commercial relationships followed him during his tenure as vice-president. Even though he had little experience in business but good contacts in military, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's biggest petroleum conglomerates, in 1995 as leader and chief executive.
In 2000 he became Bush's running mate for the executive branch. Contentiously, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was awarded US agreements valued at billions.
It significantly boosted his finances. His yearly compensation during his time at the firm increased from his $258,394 while Pentagon chief to over four million. When he left in 2000 he had a compensation package totaling more than $20m|twenty
