The former US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who died at the age of 84, was considered among the most significant incumbents of the vice-presidency in US history. Although countless second-in-commands had to settle for peripheral or figurehead roles, Cheney exercised huge influence during the administration of George W Bush, to the point that he was frequently called as the "actual president".
Bush objected to such a characterisation and claimed the connection was more complex. He observed that Cheney was respectful, consistently addressing him in official appearances as the President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush disputed even characterisations of their relationship as a team because it suggested that they were equals. In spite of these denials, Cheney considered the relaxed president malleable on a wide array of policy decisions.
The Post-9/11 Era
Leading of a group of neo-conservatives that included defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the invasion of Iraq in 2003 in reaction to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 strike, Bush had been participating in a meeting at a elementary school in Florida. While Bush made his way to a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney took command, directing the shooting down of any non-communicating planes approaching the US Capitol.
Cheney claimed the attacks changed him, causing him to be determined on revenge. Together with other neo-conservatives, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a invasion of Afghanistan in an endeavor to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the invasion of Iraq, even though there was little proof of Saddam Hussein playing a role.
Debated Actions
He expressed no regrets about the armed intervention, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis perished, and not about the harsh treatment of suspects apprehended after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was predicated on faulty intelligence circulated by Cheney, was the proper decision. "It represented the correct action to do at that time. I believed it then and I maintain that stance now."
Yet even then, there were opposing views at a high level about the poor management of Iraq. One of the government's own representatives to the Middle East, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the position. "I observed, at the very least," he later wrote "true dereliction, inaction, and unaccountability: at worst, deception, ineptitude, and graft."
Broader Context
Cheney was not entirely accountable for the Iraq military action. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for comparable steps. He had composed a memo detailing situations in which American interests might be endangered (including "access to vital raw materials, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "the US should be prepared to act independently when collective action cannot be orchestrated," specifically referencing defense operations against Iraq.
Bush also had entered the Oval Office generally inclined on executing what his predecessor had notably declined to do in 1991; remove Saddam. After he had been dismissed by the White House, the finance chief Paul O'Neill disclosed how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had announced his intention of reducing America's involvement in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and proposed armed intervention against Iraq.
Bush bore a private grievance against Saddam, convinced he had been responsible for a scheme to assassinate his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore resented that one of the most prominent accommodations in Baghdad had a floor mural with a portrait of his father's face that each person had to walk over.
Interrogation Methods
Yet it was Cheney who was among the most vehement advocating invading Iraq, frequently quoting agency briefings that were whether thin or entirely deceptive. He backed what the Bush administration indirectly described as "advanced techniques", the application of waterboarding and harsh treatment.
Addressing a Senate report in 2014 that concluded that no actionable intelligence had come from the interrogation methods, Cheney disregarded the report as "full of crap". He told Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to implement measures and put in place initiatives to apprehend the perpetrators who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it was not repeated. That was specifically what they did and they merit a lot of praise."
Public Image
Cheney enjoyed monikers imposed on him by critics such as the Star Wars villain and The Prince of Darkness, and by the concept that he was a sinister influence directing Bush. In the author's 2013 book about the duo, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is reported as stating: "Is it me who is the sinister strategist in the corner that remains unseen emerge from his hole? This represents a effective way to function, in fact."
Corporate Connections
Controversy over his corporate affiliations followed him during his tenure as VP. Even though he had little experience in corporate affairs but strong connections in military, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's biggest oil and gas corporations, in 1995 as leader and CEO.
In 2000 he was selected as Bush's running mate for the White House. Debatably, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was awarded US agreements totaling substantial sums.
It made him rich. His yearly compensation during his time at the corporation grew from his quarter-million dollars while defence secretary to over four million. When he departed in 2000 he had a package valued at in excess of $20m|twenty
