The former US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who has died at the age of 84, was considered one of the most significant incumbents of the vice-presidency in US history. Although numerous second-in-commands had to settle for minor or symbolic positions, Cheney held enormous influence during the term of George W Bush, to the point that he was frequently described as the "actual president".
Bush objected to this portrayal and stated the dynamic was more complicated. He observed that Cheney was courteous, consistently referring to him in public as Mr President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush challenged even descriptions of their partnership as a partnership because it suggested that they were on equal footing. In spite of these denials, Cheney viewed the relaxed president malleable on a broad range of administrative determinations.
A Post-9/11 Era
In charge of a contingent of neo-cons that encompassed Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in response to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. During of the 9/11 strike, Bush had been participating in a session at a educational institution in Florida. While Bush traveled to a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, directing the downing of any unresponsive planes approaching the US Capitol.
Cheney claimed the attacks transformed him, leading him to become focused on retaliation. Along 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 pressed fiercely for the armed intervention of Iraq, although there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Disputed Actions
He voiced no apologies about the military campaign, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis died, nor about the enhanced interrogation of individuals apprehended after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was founded on inaccurate information circulated by Cheney, was the correct course of action. "It was the proper decision to do then. I believed it at the time and I hold that view 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 region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the role. "I observed, at a minimum," he wrote later "obvious failure, carelessness, and recklessness: potentially, lying, unfitness, and dishonesty."
Additional Factors
Cheney was not solely responsible for the Iraq invasion. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for similar measures. He had composed a memorandum detailing circumstances in which national priorities might be threatened (encompassing "access to essential resources, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "the United States should be postured to operate alone when collective action prove impossible," specifically citing armed actions against Iraq.
Bush additionally had arrived in the Oval Office vaguely intent on carrying out what his parent had specifically avoided to do in 1991; remove Saddam. Following he had been fired by the president, the finance chief Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had announced his plan of diminishing America's engagement in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and suggested military action against Iraq.
Bush bore a personal grudge against Saddam, convinced he had been responsible for a conspiracy to kill his father, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He also resented that one of the most prominent establishments in Baghdad had a floor mural with a likeness of his predecessor's face that everyone had to walk over.
Investigation Approaches
However it was Cheney who was part of the most vehement advocating attacking Iraq, consistently citing intelligence reports that were either thin or entirely deceptive. He endorsed what the Bush administration euphemistically referred to as "advanced techniques", the application of waterboarding and torture.
Answering a Senate analysis in 2014 that found that no useful information had been obtained through the torture, Cheney dismissed the conclusions as "loaded with crap". He told Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to establish protocols and create procedures to apprehend the bastards who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it would not recur. That's exactly what they did and they deserve a lot of praise."
External Perception
Cheney took pleasure in monikers given to him by opponents such as the dark character and the dark figure, and by the concept that he was a dark force manipulating Bush. In the journalist's 2013 book about the pair, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is reported as stating: "Do I represent the evil genius in the shadows that remains unseen leave his hole? This represents a advantageous way to operate, truthfully."
Commercial Ties
Debate over his business interests followed him throughout his time as VP. Even though he had limited background in commerce but good contacts in defence, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's biggest energy corporations, in 1995 as leader and CEO.
In 2000 he was selected as Bush's running mate for the White House. Controversially, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was given US deals totaling billions.
It greatly increased his wealth. His annual income during his time at the company increased from his $258,394 during his time as Pentagon chief to $4.4m. When he left in 2000 he had a compensation package valued at over $20m|twenty
