The late US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who has died at the age of 84, was considered among the most significant occupants of that office in US history. Whereas many vice-presidents were limited to peripheral or symbolic functions, Cheney held huge influence during the presidency of George W Bush, to the point that he was commonly referred to as the "real president".
Bush disliked that description and stated the relationship was more nuanced. He noted that Cheney was courteous, consistently referring to him in public settings as the President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush questioned even portrayals of their partnership as a team because it suggested that they were equals. In spite of such protestations, Cheney viewed the relaxed president pliable on a whole raft of administrative determinations.
A Post-9/11 Era
At the head of a faction of neo-cons that encompassed military head Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in response to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 assault, Bush had been taking part in a gathering at a educational institution in Florida. As Bush made his way to a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney took command, commanding the destruction of any non-communicating aircraft nearing the government building.
Cheney claimed the assaults transformed him, making him become focused on retaliation. Together with other neo-cons, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a takeover of Afghanistan in an attempt to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the military action of Iraq, although there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein playing a role.
Controversial Actions
He expressed no regrets about the armed intervention, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis perished, or about the harsh treatment of individuals captured after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was founded on inaccurate intelligence repeated by Cheney, was the proper decision. "It represented the right thing to do back then. I believed it then and I believe it today."
However even at the time, there were opposing views at a top tier about the botched execution of Iraq. One of the administration's own representatives to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the post. "I observed, as a baseline," he wrote later "true dereliction, inaction, and recklessness: potentially, deception, ineptitude, and graft."
Broader Context
Cheney was not entirely to blame for the Iraq campaign. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for similar measures. He had drafted a memo detailing situations in which US concerns might be compromised (featuring "access to vital raw materials, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "the US should be prepared to act independently when collective action cannot be arranged," particularly mentioning armed actions against Iraq.
Bush too had entered the Oval Office somewhat determined on executing what his father had famously refused to do in 1991; remove Saddam. Following he had been sacked by the White House, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the initial gathering 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 military action against Iraq.
Bush carried a personal grudge against Saddam, believing he had been involved in a plot to kill his parent, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He also disliked that one of the largest accommodations in Baghdad had a floor mural with a image of his predecessor's countenance that everyone had to walk over.
Interrogation Methods
However it was Cheney who was among the most outspoken behind attacking Iraq, consistently referencing agency briefings that were both weak or entirely inaccurate. He supported what the Bush government indirectly described as "intensive questioning", the use of simulated drowning and harsh treatment.
Responding to a Senate analysis in 2014 that concluded that no actionable intelligence had been obtained through the torture, Cheney disregarded the conclusions as "full of crap". He informed Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to establish protocols and establish procedures to catch the bastards who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it was not repeated. That was specifically what they did and they deserve a lot of praise."
Public Persona
Cheney took pleasure in nicknames assigned to him by detractors such as the Star Wars villain and the dark figure, and by the concept that he was a sinister influence controlling Bush. In the journalist's 2013 publication about the pair, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is reported as stating: "Am I the evil genius in the background that operates invisibly emerge from his hole? It's a effective way to operate, truthfully."
Commercial Ties
Dispute over his business interests pursued him through his period as VP. Even though he had minimal expertise in corporate affairs but good contacts in defence, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's biggest energy corporations, in 1995 as leader and chief executive.
In 2000 he was selected as Bush's VP candidate for the presidency. Contentiously, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was granted US agreements worth multiple billions.
It made him rich. His yearly compensation during his tenure at the company increased from his quarter-million dollars while military head to millions. When he resigned in 2000 he had a compensation package totaling more than $20m|twenty
