The former US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who has died at age 84, was seen as among the most significant occupants of that position in US history. Whereas many VPs were limited to marginal or symbolic roles, Cheney wielded substantial influence during the administration of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was commonly called as the "true president".
Bush resented such a characterisation and stated the relationship was more complex. He pointed out that Cheney was respectful, consistently addressing him in official appearances as President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush disputed even descriptions of their association as a collaboration because it suggested that they were equals. Despite these denials, Cheney considered the laidback president malleable on a broad range of policy decisions.
The Post-9/11 Era
Leading of a contingent of neo-cons that featured Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the military intervention of Iraq in 2003 in response to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. At the time of the 9/11 assault, Bush had been participating in a meeting at a elementary school in Florida. Whereas Bush headed for a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, commanding the destruction of any unidentified airplanes approaching the Capitol building.
Cheney said the assaults altered his perspective, leading him to become intent on retaliation. Along with other neo-cons, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a takeover of Afghanistan in an endeavor to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then pressed fiercely for the armed intervention of Iraq, though there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein having involvement.
Debated Actions
He expressed no regrets about the military campaign, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis perished, or about the waterboarding of individuals rounded up after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was predicated on faulty information echoed by Cheney, was the proper path to take. "It represented the right thing to do back then. I had faith then and I hold that view today."
However even then, there were opposing views at a top tier about the botched execution of Iraq. One of the administration's own representatives to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the role. "I observed, at the very least," he wrote later "true dereliction, carelessness, and recklessness: at worst, falsehoods, unfitness, and corruption."
Broader Context
Cheney was not solely to blame for the Iraq military action. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for such action. He had written a memo setting out circumstances in which US concerns might be threatened (including "availability of vital raw materials, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "America should be prepared to operate alone when collective action prove impossible," explicitly mentioning defense operations against Iraq.
Bush too had entered the presidency generally inclined on implementing what his predecessor had famously refused to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. After he had been fired by the president, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill disclosed how, at the first meeting of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had announced his objective of diminishing America's engagement in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and mooted military action against Iraq.
Bush held a individual resentment against Saddam, believing he had been responsible for a scheme to assassinate his parent, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally objected to that one of the biggest establishments in Baghdad had a floor mural with a image of his father's visage that all visitors had to walk over.
Interrogation Methods
However it was Cheney who was among the most vehement behind striking Iraq, frequently citing intelligence reports that were whether insubstantial or completely inaccurate. He backed what the Bush administration politely called as "advanced techniques", the use of interrogation method and torture.
Addressing a Senate document in 2014 that concluded that no actionable intelligence had come from the torture, Cheney disregarded the report as "full of crap". He informed Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to establish protocols and put in place procedures to apprehend the individuals who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it would not recur. That was specifically what they did and they merit a lot of recognition."
External Perception
Cheney took pleasure in labels imposed on him by critics such as the Star Wars villain and The Prince of Darkness, and by the concept that he was a sinister influence controlling Bush. In the author's 2013 book about the pair, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is quoted as saying: "Am I the malevolent mastermind in the corner that operates invisibly leave his hole? That is a effective way to function, truthfully."
Business Interests
Debate over his commercial relationships followed him throughout his time as VP. While he had minimal expertise in commerce but good contacts in military, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's biggest petroleum companies, in 1995 as chairman and chief executive.
In 2000 he became Bush's election partner for the presidency. Controversially, during the military campaign, Halliburton was given US agreements totaling billions.
It made him rich. His yearly earnings during his period at the firm increased from his $258,394 during his time as defence secretary to millions. When he left in 2000 he had a severance arrangement totaling more than $20m|twenty
