The late US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who has died at the age of 84, was seen as among the most influential holders of that office in American history. While numerous vice-presidents were limited to peripheral or symbolic functions, Cheney exercised huge influence during the term of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was often referred to as the "actual president".
Bush disliked such a characterisation and claimed the dynamic was more complex. He noted that Cheney was deferential, invariably referring to him in public as Mr President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush questioned even descriptions of their relationship as a collaboration because it suggested that they were peers. Regardless of these denials, Cheney found the relaxed president pliable on a whole raft of policy decisions.
A Post-9/11 Era
In charge of a contingent of neo-cons that featured defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 assault, Bush had been participating in a gathering at a educational institution in Florida. As Bush traveled to a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, directing the downing of any unidentified aircraft heading toward the US Capitol.
Cheney stated the strikes transformed him, making him become focused on retaliation. In conjunction with other neo-conservatives, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a invasion of Afghanistan in an attempt to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the military action of Iraq, though there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein having involvement.
Disputed Policies
He expressed no regrets about the military campaign, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis perished, nor about the harsh treatment of suspects captured after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was based on misleading intelligence echoed by Cheney, was the right course of action. "It proved to be the correct action to do then. I was convinced then and I maintain that stance today."
Yet even then, there were opposing views at a top tier about the poor management of Iraq. One of the administration's own delegates to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the role. "I witnessed, at the very least," he wrote later "clear negligence, inaction, and irresponsibility: at worst, lying, incompetence, and graft."
Additional Factors
Cheney was not solely to blame for the Iraq campaign. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for such action. He had drafted a memo detailing circumstances in which national priorities might be compromised (encompassing "obtaining vital raw materials, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "America should be prepared to operate alone when cooperative measures cannot be orchestrated," particularly referencing defense operations against Iraq.
Bush too had assumed the presidency generally inclined on executing what his predecessor had specifically avoided to do in 1991; remove Saddam. Following he had been fired by the administration, the finance chief Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the first meeting of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his objective of reducing America's involvement in the regional tensions and mooted military action against Iraq.
Bush held a personal grudge against Saddam, believing he had been behind a conspiracy to assassinate his parent, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore resented that one of the biggest establishments in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a portrait of his father's countenance that all visitors had to walk over.
Investigation Approaches
However it was Cheney who was among the most vehement supporting attacking Iraq, frequently quoting intelligence reports that were both thin or entirely misleading. He endorsed what the Bush government indirectly described as "advanced techniques", the use of simulated drowning and torture.
Answering a Senate analysis in 2014 that determined that no useful information had been obtained through the harsh techniques, Cheney dismissed the report as "loaded with crap". He stated to Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to take steps and put in place procedures to capture the bastards who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it was not repeated. That is precisely what they did and they deserve a lot of credit."
Public Image
Cheney took pleasure in monikers given to him by opponents such as the dark character and the dark figure, and by the idea that he was a shadow power directing Bush. In Peter Baker's 2013 volume about the pair, 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 shadows that nobody ever sees leave his domain? That is a nice way to function, truthfully."
Business Interests
Debate over his business interests followed him through his period as VP. Although he had limited background in commerce but good contacts in security, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial oil and gas corporations, in 1995 as leader and chief executive.
In 2000 he was selected as Bush's election partner for the White House. Contentiously, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was granted US deals totaling multiple billions.
It significantly boosted his finances. His yearly earnings during his period at the firm grew from his quarter-million dollars when he was Pentagon chief to $4.4m. When he left in 2000 he had a compensation package totaling over $20m|twenty
