The late US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who has died at age 84, was seen as one of the most significant incumbents of the vice-presidency in the nation's history. Although numerous vice-presidents were limited to minor or symbolic positions, Cheney exercised huge sway during the term of George W Bush, so much so that he was commonly described as the "true president".
Bush disliked that description and stated the relationship was more complex. He observed that Cheney was deferential, always calling him in official appearances as Mr President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush questioned even descriptions of their partnership as a team because it indicated that they were peers. Despite these denials, Cheney considered the easygoing president pliable on a broad range of governmental choices.
The Period Following the Attacks
At the head of a contingent of conservative hawks that featured defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. During of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been participating in a session at a school in Florida. Whereas Bush made his way to a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney took command, ordering the downing of any unidentified aircraft approaching the Capitol building.
Cheney said the strikes changed him, making him become determined on revenge. Together with other neo-conservatives, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a invasion of Afghanistan in an attempt to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then pressed fiercely for the armed intervention of Iraq, although there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein playing a role.
Controversial Decisions
He expressed no regrets about the military campaign, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis died, nor about the waterboarding of individuals apprehended after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was founded on inaccurate reports circulated by Cheney, was the proper course of action. "It proved to be the right thing to do then. I was convinced at the time and I hold that view now."
However during that period, there were opposing views at a high level about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the White House's own delegates to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the post. "I saw, at the very least," he later wrote "obvious failure, negligence, and recklessness: in the worst case, deception, unfitness, and dishonesty."
Broader Context
Cheney was not solely responsible for the Iraq campaign. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for comparable steps. He had drafted a document setting out circumstances in which American interests might be compromised (featuring "availability of vital raw materials, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "the United States should be prepared to take unilateral action when joint efforts cannot be orchestrated," specifically citing military moves against Iraq.
Bush additionally had entered the White House vaguely intent on carrying out what his predecessor had famously refused to do in 1991; remove Saddam. Subsequent to he had been sacked by the White House, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his plan of reducing America's participation in the Middle East dispute and suggested defense operations against Iraq.
Bush held a personal grudge against Saddam, convinced he had been involved in a conspiracy to assassinate his parent, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He also resented that one of the largest hotels in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a portrait of his predecessor's visage that each person had to tread upon.
Interrogation Methods
But it was Cheney who was part of the most vehement behind invading Iraq, frequently quoting information documents that were either thin or completely inaccurate. He endorsed what the Bush government politely called as "advanced techniques", the use of simulated drowning and torture.
Addressing a Senate document in 2014 that found that no useful information had resulted from the harsh techniques, Cheney dismissed the conclusions as "loaded with crap". He told Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to take steps and put in place procedures to catch the perpetrators who took the lives of 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it never happened again. That is precisely what they did and they merit a lot of credit."
Public Persona
Cheney enjoyed monikers imposed on him by detractors such as Darth Vader and the dark figure, and by the concept that he was a sinister influence directing Bush. In the author's 2013 volume about the duo, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is reported as stating: "Is it me who is the malevolent mastermind in the shadows that remains unseen come out of his hole? This represents a advantageous way to function, in fact."
Business Interests
Debate over his business interests followed him during his tenure as VP. Although he had minimal expertise in commerce but strong connections in security, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's largest oil and gas corporations, in 1995 as chair and top executive.
In 2000 he was selected as Bush's VP candidate for the White House. Controversially, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was given US deals totaling billions.
It significantly boosted his finances. His yearly earnings during his tenure at the firm grew from his $258,394 when he was Pentagon chief to $4.4m. When he left in 2000 he had a compensation package worth more than $20m|twenty
