The former US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who has died at age 84, was regarded as arguably the most influential holders of that position in US history. While numerous vice-presidents were confined to marginal or ceremonial positions, Cheney exercised substantial influence during the presidency of George W Bush, so much so that he was often referred to as the "actual president".
Bush objected to such a characterisation and stated the connection was more nuanced. He pointed out that Cheney was deferential, always addressing him in public as President, while he called him as Dick. Bush disputed even portrayals of their partnership as a team because it suggested that they were equals. Despite these denials, Cheney found the easygoing president malleable on a wide array of governmental choices.
A Period Following the Attacks
At the head of a group of conservative hawks that featured defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in reaction to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. At the time of the 9/11 assault, Bush had been taking part in a session at a educational institution in Florida. As Bush made his way to a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, ordering the shooting down of any non-communicating aircraft approaching the US Capitol.
Cheney claimed the strikes changed him, making him become focused on revenge. Along with other neo-conservatives, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a takeover of Afghanistan in an endeavor to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the invasion of Iraq, although there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein playing a role.
Disputed Policies
He voiced no apologies about the military campaign, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis died, and not about the enhanced interrogation of detainees rounded up after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was predicated on misleading information echoed by Cheney, was the right decision. "It represented the proper decision to do then. I believed it then and I hold that view today."
Yet during that period, there were opposing views at a top tier about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the White House's own special envoys to the Middle East, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the post. "I observed, at the very least," he later wrote "clear negligence, negligence, and irresponsibility: potentially, lying, incompetence, and corruption."
Broader Context
Cheney was not entirely accountable for the Iraq invasion. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for such action. He had composed a memorandum outlining scenarios in which American interests might be endangered (encompassing "access to vital raw materials, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "the US should be prepared to act independently when collective action cannot be orchestrated," particularly mentioning military moves against Iraq.
Bush too had arrived in the White House somewhat determined on carrying out what his father had notably declined to do in 1991; remove Saddam. After he had been dismissed by the administration, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill disclosed how, at the first meeting of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his plan of diminishing America's engagement in the Middle East dispute and mooted defense operations against Iraq.
Bush carried a personal grudge against Saddam, thinking he had been involved in a scheme to kill his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally resented that one of the largest accommodations in Baghdad had a ground design with a likeness of his father's visage that everyone had to tread upon.
Questioning Techniques
But it was Cheney who was among the most vehement behind striking Iraq, frequently referencing agency briefings that were either thin or totally misleading. He backed what the Bush government euphemistically referred to as "enhanced interrogation", the application of waterboarding and harsh treatment.
Responding to a Senate document in 2014 that concluded that no useful information had come from the torture, Cheney rejected the conclusions as "loaded with crap". He stated to Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to establish protocols and create programmes to apprehend the bastards who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it never happened again. That's exactly what they did and they deserve a lot of praise."
Public Persona
Cheney reveled in monikers given to him by detractors such as Darth Vader and the sinister presence, and by the idea that he was a sinister influence directing Bush. In the author's 2013 book about the two, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is quoted as saying: "Am I the sinister strategist in the corner that nobody ever sees come out of his domain? That is a nice way to work, in fact."
Corporate Connections
Controversy over his commercial relationships accompanied him during his tenure as second-in-command. While he had limited background in business but good contacts in defence, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's largest petroleum companies, in 1995 as chair and CEO.
In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's running mate for the executive branch. Debatably, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was given US agreements valued at billions.
It significantly boosted his finances. His yearly compensation during his time at the firm rose from his $258,394 when he was Pentagon chief to millions. When he departed in 2000 he had a compensation package worth in excess of $20m|twenty
