The deceased US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who has died at age 84, was regarded as arguably the most significant occupants of that position in US history. While numerous VPs had to settle for minor or symbolic positions, Cheney held huge influence during the term of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was frequently described as the "real president".
Bush resented such a characterisation and claimed the relationship was more complicated. He noted that Cheney was courteous, always calling him in public settings as President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush challenged even characterisations of their association as a partnership because it suggested that they were on equal footing. Regardless of these denials, Cheney considered the laidback president accommodating on a broad range of administrative determinations.
The Period Following the Attacks
In charge of a contingent of neo-conservatives that encompassed Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the invasion of Iraq in 2003 in response to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. During of the 9/11 strike, Bush had been participating in a meeting at a educational institution in Florida. As Bush headed for a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, directing the shooting down of any non-communicating planes heading toward the government building.
Cheney stated the attacks changed him, causing him to be determined on revenge. Together with other conservative figures, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a takeover of Afghanistan in an attempt to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the military action of Iraq, though there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein playing a role.
Debated Decisions
He voiced no apologies about the invasion, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis died, or about the enhanced interrogation of individuals captured after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was founded on faulty information echoed by Cheney, was the correct decision. "It represented the correct action to do at that time. I believed it back then and I maintain that stance today."
However even at the time, there were dissenting voices at a top tier about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the government's own delegates to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the role. "I saw, at the very least," he subsequently stated "obvious failure, carelessness, and unaccountability: in the worst case, falsehoods, ineptitude, and corruption."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not entirely responsible for the Iraq military action. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for such action. He had composed a memorandum setting out situations in which American interests might be endangered (encompassing "obtaining essential resources, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "the US should be postured to take unilateral action when collective action cannot be arranged," specifically mentioning defense operations against Iraq.
Bush too had entered the Oval Office generally inclined on executing what his predecessor had famously refused to do in 1991; topple Saddam. Subsequent to he had been dismissed by the president, the finance chief Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the first meeting of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had announced his plan of diminishing America's involvement in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and proposed military action against Iraq.
Bush carried a personal grudge against Saddam, convinced he had been involved in a scheme to assassinate his father, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore resented that one of the most prominent accommodations in Baghdad had a floor mural with a image of his parent's visage that all visitors had to walk over.
Questioning Techniques
However it was Cheney who was among the most vociferous supporting striking Iraq, frequently referencing agency briefings that were either insubstantial or totally misleading. He backed what the Bush White House politely called as "enhanced interrogation", the use of interrogation method and harsh treatment.
Responding to a Senate document in 2014 that found that no valuable data had been obtained through the torture, Cheney disregarded the findings as "riddled with crap". He stated to Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to take steps and put in place programmes to capture the perpetrators 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 earn a lot of praise."
Public Persona
Cheney took pleasure in monikers imposed on him by detractors such as the Star Wars villain and the dark figure, and by the concept that he was a sinister influence controlling Bush. In Peter Baker's 2013 volume about the pair, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is quoted as saying: "Is it me who is the evil genius in the shadows that remains unseen leave his hole? This represents a nice way to work, in fact."
Commercial Ties
Dispute over his business interests followed him during his tenure as VP. While he had limited background in corporate affairs but good contacts in security, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's largest petroleum companies, in 1995 as chair and chief executive.
In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's VP candidate for the executive branch. Controversially, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was granted US deals worth multiple billions.
It made him rich. His annual income during his tenure at the firm grew from his previous salary during his time as Pentagon chief to millions. When he departed in 2000 he had a compensation package valued at in excess of $20m|twenty
