The late US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who has died at the age of 84, was considered among the most influential occupants of the vice-presidency in the nation's history. Whereas countless VPs had to settle for marginal or figurehead roles, Cheney held huge sway during the administration of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was frequently described as the "true president".
Bush disliked such a characterisation and said the dynamic was more complex. He noted that Cheney was respectful, invariably referring to him in public as Mr President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush challenged even descriptions of their relationship as a partnership because it indicated that they were peers. Regardless of these objections, Cheney considered the relaxed president accommodating on a wide array of governmental choices.
A Post-9/11 Era
In charge of a faction of neo-cons that featured Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the military intervention of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the September 11th attacks on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been taking part in a gathering at a elementary school in Florida. Whereas Bush traveled to a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, directing the destruction of any non-communicating planes heading toward the government building.
Cheney stated the strikes changed him, leading him to become intent on revenge. In conjunction with other neo-cons, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a occupation of Afghanistan in an attempt to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the military action of Iraq, even though there was little proof of Saddam Hussein playing a role.
Debated Decisions
He voiced no apologies about the armed intervention, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis perished, or about the waterboarding of suspects captured after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was predicated on inaccurate intelligence repeated by Cheney, was the proper decision. "It represented the right thing to do then. I believed it back then and I maintain that stance presently."
But even then, there were opposing views at a senior level about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the administration's own delegates to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the role. "I witnessed, at a minimum," he subsequently stated "obvious failure, carelessness, and unaccountability: at worst, deception, ineptitude, and corruption."
Additional Factors
Cheney was not entirely to blame for the Iraq campaign. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for such action. He had drafted a document outlining scenarios in which national priorities might be endangered (including "access to vital raw materials, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "America should be positioned to take unilateral action when joint efforts cannot be arranged," particularly citing military moves against Iraq.
Bush also had arrived in the Oval Office vaguely intent on implementing what his father had famously refused to do in 1991; remove Saddam. Subsequent to he had been sacked by the president, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the first meeting of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his intention of lowering America's involvement in the regional tensions and mooted defense operations against Iraq.
Bush held a private grievance against Saddam, convinced he had been behind a scheme to murder his father, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He also disliked that one of the biggest establishments in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a image of his father's countenance that each person had to step on.
Investigation Approaches
Yet it was Cheney who was one of the most outspoken advocating invading Iraq, consistently citing agency briefings that were either weak or completely misleading. He supported what the Bush administration euphemistically referred to as "advanced techniques", the application of interrogation method and harsh treatment.
Answering a Senate report in 2014 that found that no useful information had been obtained through the torture, Cheney rejected the report as "loaded with crap". He told Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to establish protocols and put in place programmes to catch the perpetrators 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 reveled in labels assigned to him by detractors such as the Star Wars villain and The Prince of Darkness, and by the idea that he was a dark force directing Bush. In the author's 2013 publication about the pair, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is cited as commenting: "Is it me who is the evil genius in the shadows that nobody ever sees leave his domain? This represents a nice way to function, truthfully."
Commercial Ties
Controversy over his commercial relationships pursued him throughout his time as vice-president. Although he had little experience in commerce but strong connections in security, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's biggest oil and gas conglomerates, in 1995 as chair and chief executive.
In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's running mate for the executive branch. Controversially, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was awarded US agreements valued at billions.
It significantly boosted his finances. His yearly compensation during his tenure at the firm rose from his previous salary when he was defence secretary to $4.4m. When he departed in 2000 he had a package valued at in excess of $20m|twenty
