The deceased US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who has died at the age of 84, was regarded as among the most influential occupants of the vice-presidency in US history. While many VPs were confined to peripheral or figurehead positions, Cheney exercised substantial influence during the term of George W Bush, so much so that he was often described as the "actual president".
Bush disliked such a characterisation and stated the relationship was more nuanced. He noted that Cheney was respectful, always referring to him in official appearances as President, while he called him as Dick. Bush challenged even characterisations of their relationship as a partnership because it suggested that they were equals. Despite these objections, Cheney found the easygoing president pliable on a broad range of administrative determinations.
A Period Following the Attacks
At the head of a group of neo-cons that featured Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the military intervention of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. During of the 9/11 strike, Bush had been participating in a meeting at a school in Florida. As Bush traveled to a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, ordering the shooting down of any non-communicating planes heading toward the US Capitol.
Cheney stated the attacks changed him, making him become determined on revenge. In conjunction with other neo-cons, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a occupation of Afghanistan in an effort to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the invasion of Iraq, though there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein having involvement.
Controversial Policies
He voiced no apologies about the invasion, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, nor about the harsh treatment of individuals captured after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was founded on faulty intelligence echoed by Cheney, was the proper path to take. "It represented the right thing to do at that time. I had faith then and I maintain that stance presently."
Yet even then, there were contrary opinions at a top tier about the poor management of Iraq. One of the White House's own representatives to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the role. "I witnessed, as a baseline," he subsequently stated "true dereliction, inaction, and unaccountability: at worst, falsehoods, incompetence, and corruption."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not solely to blame for the Iraq campaign. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for similar measures. He had drafted a memo outlining circumstances in which US concerns might be endangered (featuring "availability of vital raw materials, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "the United States should be positioned to act independently when joint efforts cannot be orchestrated," specifically citing defense operations against Iraq.
Bush too had arrived in the presidency vaguely intent on executing what his parent had famously refused to do in 1991; topple Saddam. Subsequent to he had been fired by the White House, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill disclosed how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had announced his plan of reducing America's engagement in the regional tensions and proposed defense operations against Iraq.
Bush held a personal grudge against Saddam, convinced he had been behind a scheme to kill his parent, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He also resented that one of the largest accommodations in Baghdad had a ground design with a portrait of his predecessor's countenance that each person had to walk over.
Interrogation Methods
But it was Cheney who was part of the most vehement advocating striking Iraq, consistently referencing intelligence reports that were whether insubstantial or totally deceptive. He supported what the Bush White House politely called as "advanced techniques", the employment of simulated drowning and physical pressure.
Answering a Senate document in 2014 that determined that no actionable intelligence had been obtained through the harsh techniques, Cheney rejected the conclusions as "riddled with crap". He told Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to implement measures and establish initiatives to capture the individuals who took the lives of 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it would not recur. That's exactly what they did and they deserve a lot of praise."
Public Image
Cheney took pleasure in monikers imposed on him by detractors such as the dark character and the sinister presence, and by the idea that he was a shadow power controlling Bush. In the author's 2013 publication about the two, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is quoted as saying: "Do I represent the evil genius in the shadows that operates invisibly emerge from his domain? It's a nice way to function, truthfully."
Commercial Ties
Debate over his commercial relationships followed him through his period as VP. While he had little experience in corporate affairs but strong connections in military, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial oil and gas companies, in 1995 as leader and CEO.
In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's election partner for the White House. Controversially, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was given US deals valued at billions.
It made him rich. His annual income during his time at the corporation grew from his previous salary when he was defence secretary to millions. When he departed in 2000 he had a compensation package valued at over $20m|twenty
