The deceased US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who has died at age 84, was considered arguably the most significant occupants of that position in US history. Although many VPs were limited to minor or symbolic positions, Cheney wielded huge power during the administration of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was often referred to as the "actual president".
Bush resented that description and stated the connection was more complicated. He pointed out that Cheney was courteous, consistently addressing him in public as the President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush challenged even characterisations of their relationship as a collaboration because it suggested that they were equals. Regardless of such protestations, Cheney viewed the laidback president accommodating on a whole raft of policy decisions.
A Aftermath of 9/11
At the head of a group of conservative hawks that included military head 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 strike, Bush had been attending a gathering at a elementary school in Florida. While Bush traveled to a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, commanding the downing of any unresponsive planes approaching the Capitol building.
Cheney claimed the attacks altered his perspective, leading him to become determined on retaliation. Along with other neo-cons, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a takeover of Afghanistan in an effort to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the armed intervention of Iraq, though there was little proof of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Debated Actions
He expressed no regrets about the invasion, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis died, nor about the enhanced interrogation of individuals captured after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was founded on misleading reports echoed by Cheney, was the right path to take. "It represented the proper decision to do back then. I believed it at the time and I maintain that stance today."
However during that period, there were opposing views at a senior 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 witnessed, at the very least," he later wrote "clear negligence, inaction, and irresponsibility: at worst, lying, incompetence, and dishonesty."
Broader Context
Cheney was not completely responsible for the Iraq invasion. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for comparable steps. He had composed a document outlining situations in which national priorities might be threatened (including "obtaining vital raw materials, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "the United States should be prepared to operate alone when joint efforts prove impossible," explicitly mentioning defense operations against Iraq.
Bush too had assumed the presidency generally inclined on implementing what his father had notably declined to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. After he had been fired by the White House, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill disclosed how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had announced his intention of diminishing America's participation in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and proposed armed intervention against Iraq.
Bush carried a private grievance against Saddam, believing he had been responsible for a conspiracy to assassinate his father, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally resented that one of the largest establishments in Baghdad had a ground design with a likeness of his father's countenance that each person had to tread upon.
Investigation Approaches
However it was Cheney who was part of the most vehement supporting invading Iraq, frequently citing agency briefings that were either weak or totally inaccurate. He backed what the Bush White House euphemistically referred to as "advanced techniques", the application of simulated drowning and torture.
Addressing a Senate report in 2014 that found that no useful information had been obtained through the interrogation methods, Cheney rejected the conclusions as "riddled with crap". He stated to Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to establish protocols and establish programmes to catch the bastards who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it would not recur. That's exactly what they did and they earn a lot of credit."
Public Image
Cheney took pleasure in monikers assigned to him by critics such as Darth Vader and the dark figure, and by the concept that he was a shadow power controlling Bush. In Peter Baker's 2013 book about the two, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is cited as commenting: "Is it me who is the sinister strategist in the background that nobody ever sees emerge from his hole? It's a nice way to operate, truthfully."
Corporate Connections
Debate over his business interests pursued him through his period as second-in-command. Although he had limited background in commerce but good contacts in security, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial petroleum corporations, in 1995 as chair and CEO.
In 2000 he was selected as Bush's election partner for the presidency. Controversially, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was awarded US deals totaling billions.
It made him rich. His yearly compensation during his tenure at the company increased from his quarter-million dollars while defence secretary to millions. When he left in 2000 he had a package valued at in excess of $20m|twenty
