The former US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who has died at age 84, was regarded as arguably the most powerful occupants of the vice-presidency in US history. Whereas countless VPs were limited to minor or figurehead roles, Cheney wielded enormous influence during the presidency of George W Bush, to the point that he was commonly described as the "actual president".
Bush resented that description and said the dynamic was more complicated. He observed that Cheney was courteous, always calling him in public as President, while he called him as Dick. Bush disputed even characterisations of their relationship as a partnership because it implied that they were peers. In spite of these objections, Cheney found the laidback president accommodating on a wide array of administrative determinations.
A Aftermath of 9/11
In charge of a contingent of neo-conservatives that featured military head Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for 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 strike, Bush had been taking part in a gathering at a school in Florida. As Bush headed for a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney took command, directing the downing of any unresponsive aircraft approaching the government building.
Cheney stated the strikes altered his perspective, making him become determined on retaliation. In conjunction with other neo-conservatives, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a occupation of Afghanistan in an attempt to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then pressed fiercely for the armed intervention of Iraq, though there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein playing a role.
Debated Actions
He showed no remorse about the invasion, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis died, nor about the waterboarding of individuals apprehended after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was founded on faulty intelligence repeated by Cheney, was the correct course of action. "It proved to be the right thing to do back then. I was convinced back then and I maintain that stance presently."
Yet even at the time, there were contrary opinions at a senior level about the poor management of Iraq. One of the government's own special envoys to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the post. "I witnessed, as a baseline," he later wrote "obvious failure, inaction, and irresponsibility: in the worst case, lying, unfitness, and corruption."
Additional Factors
Cheney was not completely to blame for the Iraq military action. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for such action. He had drafted a memorandum setting out situations in which American interests might be compromised (including "access to essential resources, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "the United States should be positioned to act independently when cooperative measures cannot be orchestrated," particularly mentioning armed actions against Iraq.
Bush additionally had entered the presidency vaguely intent on implementing what his parent had specifically avoided to do in 1991; topple Saddam. Following he had been sacked by the White House, the finance chief Paul O'Neill disclosed how, at the first meeting of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his intention of diminishing America's engagement in the Middle East dispute and suggested defense operations against Iraq.
Bush held a private grievance against Saddam, thinking he had been behind a scheme to assassinate his parent, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He also resented that one of the most prominent accommodations in Baghdad had a floor mural with a portrait of his father's face that all visitors had to step on.
Investigation Approaches
Yet it was Cheney who was among the most vehement behind attacking Iraq, consistently quoting intelligence reports that were whether weak or totally inaccurate. He supported what the Bush administration politely called as "enhanced interrogation", the application of simulated drowning and torture.
Responding to a Senate report in 2014 that determined that no actionable intelligence had resulted from the interrogation methods, Cheney dismissed the report as "full of crap". He stated to Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to establish protocols and establish procedures to catch the bastards who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it never happened again. That is precisely what they did and they earn a lot of praise."
External Perception
Cheney reveled in nicknames imposed on him by detractors such as Darth Vader and the dark figure, and by the idea that he was a dark force controlling Bush. In the author's 2013 book about the two, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is quoted as saying: "Do I represent the malevolent mastermind in the corner that remains unseen emerge from his domain? This represents a effective way to function, in fact."
Commercial Ties
Debate over his business interests pursued him during his tenure as VP. Even though he had limited background in business but strong connections in defence, notably 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 was selected as Bush's election partner for the executive branch. Contentiously, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was granted US deals totaling multiple billions.
It greatly increased his wealth. His yearly compensation during his tenure at the company grew from his quarter-million dollars when he was military head to $4.4m. When he departed in 2000 he had a package valued at over $20m|twenty
