The former US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who has died at the age of 84, was seen as among the most influential holders of the vice-presidency in US history. While numerous vice-presidents were confined to marginal or ceremonial functions, Cheney exercised enormous power during the presidency of George W Bush, so much so that he was frequently called as the "real president".
Bush objected to this portrayal and stated the connection was more complex. He noted that Cheney was deferential, consistently addressing him in official appearances as President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush challenged even characterisations of their association as a team because it implied that they were on equal footing. Regardless of these objections, Cheney viewed the relaxed president malleable on a wide array of policy decisions.
The Post-9/11 Era
In charge of a faction of conservative hawks that included defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in response to the September 11th attacks on New York and Washington. At the time of the 9/11 strike, Bush had been taking part in a session at a educational institution in Florida. As Bush traveled to a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, commanding the downing of any non-communicating aircraft nearing the government building.
Cheney stated the assaults changed him, making him become determined on retaliation. In conjunction with other neo-cons, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a invasion of Afghanistan in an attempt to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the invasion of Iraq, even though there was little proof of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Disputed Policies
He voiced no apologies about the armed intervention, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis died, and not about the waterboarding of suspects rounded up after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was predicated on faulty information repeated by Cheney, was the correct path to take. "It represented the correct action to do at that time. I believed it then and I maintain that stance presently."
However even then, there were dissenting voices at a senior level about the poor management of Iraq. One of the administration's own representatives to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the position. "I saw, as a baseline," he subsequently stated "true dereliction, carelessness, and unaccountability: potentially, falsehoods, ineptitude, and graft."
Additional Factors
Cheney was not entirely responsible for the Iraq military action. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for such action. He had composed a memo setting out circumstances in which US concerns might be endangered (including "obtaining crucial commodities, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "the US should be prepared to take unilateral action when cooperative measures cannot be orchestrated," particularly citing armed actions against Iraq.
Bush too had assumed the presidency somewhat determined on implementing what his father had specifically avoided to do in 1991; remove Saddam. Subsequent to he had been sacked by the administration, the finance chief Paul O'Neill disclosed how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his plan of reducing America's participation in the Middle East dispute and proposed military action against Iraq.
Bush held a individual resentment against Saddam, believing he had been behind a plot to murder his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore resented that one of the most prominent hotels in Baghdad had a ground design with a image of his parent's face that each person had to step on.
Questioning Techniques
But it was Cheney who was part of the most outspoken behind striking Iraq, repeatedly referencing information documents that were both insubstantial or completely misleading. He backed what the Bush administration politely called as "intensive questioning", the application of waterboarding and physical pressure.
Addressing a Senate document in 2014 that determined that no actionable intelligence had been obtained through the interrogation methods, Cheney rejected the report as "full of crap". He informed Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to establish protocols and put in place programmes 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 credit."
External Perception
Cheney enjoyed labels assigned to him by detractors such as the Star Wars villain and The Prince of Darkness, and by the concept that he was a shadow power directing Bush. In the author's 2013 volume about the duo, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is cited as commenting: "Do I represent the evil genius in the background that remains unseen emerge from his domain? This represents a effective way to function, actually."
Business Interests
Debate over his commercial relationships pursued him during his tenure as VP. Although he had little experience in commerce but good contacts in defence, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's largest petroleum conglomerates, in 1995 as leader and CEO.
In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's election partner for the presidency. Debatably, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was awarded US deals totaling billions.
It significantly boosted his finances. His annual income during his tenure at the corporation grew from his quarter-million dollars during his time as Pentagon chief to over four million. When he departed in 2000 he had a compensation package worth more than $20m|twenty
