The former US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who has died at age 84, was seen as among the most significant incumbents of the vice-presidency in American history. Whereas numerous vice-presidents were limited to peripheral or ceremonial functions, Cheney exercised huge sway during the presidency of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was frequently described as the "actual president".
Bush resented that description and said the relationship was more complicated. He observed that Cheney was courteous, consistently addressing him in public as President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush challenged even descriptions of their partnership as a collaboration because it indicated that they were on equal footing. In spite of such protestations, Cheney viewed the relaxed president accommodating on a whole raft of policy decisions.
A Aftermath of 9/11
In charge of a group of neo-cons that included Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the invasion of Iraq in 2003 in response to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been taking part in a meeting at a educational institution in Florida. As Bush traveled to a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, commanding the destruction of any unidentified aircraft approaching the government building.
Cheney said the assaults changed him, causing him to be focused on revenge. Together with other neo-cons, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a invasion of Afghanistan in an effort to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the armed intervention of Iraq, though there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein having involvement.
Debated Decisions
He expressed no regrets about the military campaign, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis died, or about the waterboarding of suspects apprehended after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was predicated on inaccurate information echoed by Cheney, was the correct path to take. "It was the proper decision to do back then. I believed it then and I hold that view today."
But even at the time, there were contrary opinions at a high level about the poor management of Iraq. One of the government's own delegates to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the role. "I witnessed, at a minimum," he wrote later "true dereliction, inaction, and unaccountability: at worst, deception, ineptitude, and graft."
Broader Context
Cheney was not entirely responsible for the Iraq invasion. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for comparable steps. He had drafted a document detailing scenarios in which national priorities might be compromised (encompassing "obtaining vital raw materials, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "the United States should be prepared to take unilateral action when collective action cannot be arranged," explicitly citing armed actions against Iraq.
Bush additionally had entered the White House somewhat determined on implementing what his predecessor had specifically avoided to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. Following he had been sacked by the administration, the finance chief Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the first meeting of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his objective of diminishing America's involvement in the regional tensions and suggested armed intervention against Iraq.
Bush held a private grievance against Saddam, thinking he had been involved in a scheme to assassinate his father, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally resented that one of the most prominent hotels in Baghdad had a floor mural with a likeness of his parent's countenance that all visitors had to walk over.
Interrogation Methods
But it was Cheney who was among the most outspoken behind attacking Iraq, consistently referencing agency briefings that were either thin or entirely misleading. He supported what the Bush government euphemistically referred to as "enhanced interrogation", the application of interrogation method and harsh treatment.
Responding to a Senate document in 2014 that concluded that no valuable data had been obtained through the harsh techniques, Cheney rejected the findings as "loaded with crap". He told Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to establish protocols and put in place programmes to capture the bastards who took the lives of 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it never happened again. That's exactly what they did and they merit a lot of recognition."
External Perception
Cheney reveled in monikers given to him by critics such as Darth Vader and The Prince of Darkness, and by the notion that he was a dark force manipulating Bush. In the journalist's 2013 volume about the pair, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is reported as stating: "Is it me who is the malevolent mastermind in the corner that operates invisibly emerge from his lair? This represents a nice way to function, truthfully."
Commercial Ties
Dispute over his commercial relationships followed him through his period as second-in-command. Although he had minimal expertise in corporate affairs but good contacts in defence, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial petroleum companies, in 1995 as chair and top executive.
In 2000 he was selected as Bush's VP candidate for the executive branch. Debatably, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was awarded US deals valued at billions.
It made him rich. His yearly compensation during his tenure at the company rose from his quarter-million dollars during his time as defence secretary to over four million. When he departed in 2000 he had a compensation package worth more than $20m|twenty
