The former US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who has died at age 84, was seen as arguably the most influential incumbents of that position in American history. Although many VPs had to settle for minor or symbolic positions, Cheney exercised substantial sway during the administration of George W Bush, to the point that he was often referred to as the "actual president".
Bush disliked this portrayal and claimed the dynamic was more nuanced. He pointed out that Cheney was courteous, consistently addressing him in public as Mr President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush questioned even portrayals of their association as a partnership because it indicated that they were peers. Regardless of these denials, Cheney considered the relaxed president pliable on a broad range of administrative determinations.
A Period Following the Attacks
In charge of a faction of conservative hawks that included defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the military intervention of Iraq in 2003 in reaction to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. During of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been participating in a gathering at a elementary school in Florida. Whereas Bush headed for a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, directing the downing of any unidentified aircraft heading toward the US Capitol.
Cheney claimed the strikes changed him, causing him to be focused on retaliation. In conjunction with other neo-conservatives, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a takeover of Afghanistan in an attempt to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then pressed fiercely for the armed intervention of Iraq, though there was little proof of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Controversial Decisions
He voiced no apologies about the invasion, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis perished, and not about the harsh treatment of individuals apprehended after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was predicated on faulty information circulated by Cheney, was the proper path to take. "It proved to be the correct action to do then. I had faith then and I believe it now."
But during that period, there were dissenting voices at a senior level about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the government's own special envoys to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the post. "I saw, at the very least," he subsequently stated "true dereliction, negligence, and recklessness: potentially, lying, ineptitude, and dishonesty."
Broader Context
Cheney was not entirely to blame for the Iraq military action. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for such action. He had composed a memorandum detailing circumstances in which US concerns might be threatened (featuring "availability of essential resources, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "the United States should be prepared to act independently when cooperative measures cannot be orchestrated," particularly citing defense operations against Iraq.
Bush additionally had assumed the presidency vaguely intent on implementing what his parent had notably declined to do in 1991; topple Saddam. Following he had been fired by the White House, the finance chief Paul O'Neill disclosed how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his plan of reducing America's involvement in the regional tensions and mooted armed intervention against Iraq.
Bush bore a personal grudge against Saddam, thinking he had been responsible for a scheme to murder his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore disliked that one of the most prominent accommodations in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a portrait of his parent's face that all visitors had to tread upon.
Investigation Approaches
Yet it was Cheney who was part of the most vehement behind attacking Iraq, repeatedly citing information documents that were both thin or entirely inaccurate. He backed what the Bush administration euphemistically referred to as "advanced techniques", the application of interrogation method and harsh treatment.
Responding to a Senate report in 2014 that found that no useful information had come from the interrogation methods, Cheney dismissed the conclusions as "riddled with crap". He informed Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to implement measures and put in place programmes to catch the individuals who took the lives of 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it never happened again. That is precisely what they did and they merit a lot of recognition."
External Perception
Cheney took pleasure in monikers imposed on him by opponents such as the dark character and The Prince of Darkness, and by the idea that he was a sinister influence controlling Bush. In the author's 2013 book about the two, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is reported as stating: "Am I the evil genius in the corner that nobody ever sees emerge from his hole? It's a effective way to work, actually."
Business Interests
Dispute over his commercial relationships accompanied him through his period as VP. Although he had little experience in commerce but good contacts in military, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's biggest petroleum corporations, in 1995 as chair and chief executive.
In 2000 he became Bush's VP candidate for the presidency. Debatably, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was awarded US agreements worth substantial sums.
It greatly increased his wealth. His annual income during his tenure at the company grew from his $258,394 during his time as military head to $4.4m. When he resigned in 2000 he had a compensation package totaling in excess of $20m|twenty
