The former US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who has died at the age of 84, was considered among the most powerful occupants of the vice-presidency in American history. While numerous VPs were confined to minor or figurehead functions, Cheney wielded huge influence during the presidency of George W Bush, so much so that he was frequently called as the "actual president".
Bush resented this portrayal and stated the dynamic was more nuanced. He observed that Cheney was respectful, always referring to him in public settings as the President, while he called him as Dick. Bush disputed even characterisations of their partnership as a team because it indicated that they were peers. Regardless of these denials, Cheney considered the laidback president accommodating on a wide array of governmental choices.
A Period Following the Attacks
At the head of a faction of neo-cons that encompassed military head Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the invasion of Iraq in 2003 in response to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. During of the 9/11 assault, Bush had been attending a gathering at a educational institution in Florida. While Bush headed for a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney took command, ordering the downing of any non-communicating aircraft heading toward the government building.
Cheney claimed the assaults changed him, causing him to be intent on retaliation. Along with other conservative figures, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a takeover of Afghanistan in an endeavor to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the armed intervention of Iraq, even though there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein playing a role.
Controversial Actions
He voiced no apologies about the military campaign, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, nor about the enhanced interrogation of individuals apprehended after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was founded on misleading information circulated by Cheney, was the right path to take. "It was the correct action to do back then. I believed it back then and I hold that view now."
However even then, there were contrary opinions at a high level about the botched execution of Iraq. One of the government's own delegates to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the role. "I saw, as a baseline," he subsequently stated "true dereliction, negligence, and recklessness: potentially, lying, ineptitude, and dishonesty."
Broader Context
Cheney was not solely to blame for the Iraq invasion. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for such action. He had written a memorandum detailing circumstances in which national priorities might be endangered (featuring "availability of vital raw materials, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "America should be prepared to operate alone when joint efforts cannot be orchestrated," explicitly citing armed actions against Iraq.
Bush also had arrived in the White House vaguely intent on carrying out what his parent had specifically avoided to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. Subsequent to he had been dismissed by the president, the finance chief 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 engagement in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and proposed armed intervention against Iraq.
Bush carried a personal grudge against Saddam, thinking he had been responsible for a conspiracy to kill his parent, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally resented that one of the most prominent accommodations in Baghdad had a floor mural with a image of his predecessor's countenance that all visitors had to tread upon.
Questioning Techniques
Yet it was Cheney who was one of the most vehement advocating attacking Iraq, repeatedly quoting agency briefings that were whether weak or totally inaccurate. He endorsed what the Bush government euphemistically referred to as "enhanced interrogation", the application of interrogation method and torture.
Answering a Senate document in 2014 that found that no valuable data had been obtained through the torture, Cheney dismissed the findings as "riddled with crap". He informed Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to implement measures and establish programmes to catch the perpetrators who took the lives of 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it was not repeated. That's exactly what they did and they merit a lot of recognition."
Public Image
Cheney enjoyed monikers assigned to him by opponents such as Darth Vader and The Prince of Darkness, and by the notion that he was a dark force directing Bush. In Peter Baker's 2013 book about the pair, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is cited as commenting: "Is it me who is the malevolent mastermind in the background that operates invisibly come out of his lair? That is a nice way to work, truthfully."
Business Interests
Controversy over his business interests pursued him during his tenure as vice-president. Even though he had limited background in business but established relationships in security, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial oil and gas companies, in 1995 as leader and top executive.
In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's VP candidate for the presidency. Debatably, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was granted US agreements worth billions.
It made him rich. His yearly earnings during his period at the corporation grew from his quarter-million dollars during his time as military head to millions. When he resigned in 2000 he had a package valued at more than $20m|twenty
