The late US VP Dick Cheney, who has died at the age of 84, was considered among the most powerful occupants of that office in the nation's history. Whereas countless second-in-commands had to settle for minor or figurehead functions, Cheney exercised substantial power during the presidency of George W Bush, to the point that he was commonly called as the "actual president".
Bush resented such a characterisation and claimed the relationship was more complex. He noted that Cheney was courteous, invariably addressing him in official appearances as the President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush questioned even portrayals of their partnership as a collaboration because it implied that they were on equal footing. Despite these objections, Cheney found the laidback president pliable on a wide array of governmental choices.
The Post-9/11 Era
At the head of a group of neo-conservatives that encompassed Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in reaction to the September 11th attacks on New York and Washington. At the time of the 9/11 strike, Bush had been attending a gathering at a elementary school in Florida. While Bush made his way to a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, commanding the destruction of any non-communicating aircraft approaching the US Capitol.
Cheney claimed the attacks transformed him, making him become determined on retaliation. In conjunction with other neo-cons, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a invasion of Afghanistan in an attempt to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then pressed fiercely for the armed intervention of Iraq, even though there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein having involvement.
Debated Decisions
He expressed no regrets about the military campaign, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis died, nor about the waterboarding of individuals rounded up after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was based on inaccurate reports repeated by Cheney, was the correct decision. "It was the right thing to do back then. I believed it back then and I maintain that stance presently."
But even then, there were dissenting voices at a senior level about the botched execution of Iraq. One of the government's own special envoys to the Middle East, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the role. "I observed, as a baseline," he wrote later "obvious failure, inaction, and unaccountability: potentially, deception, incompetence, and corruption."
Broader Context
Cheney was not entirely to blame for the Iraq invasion. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for similar measures. He had drafted a document setting out scenarios in which American interests might be compromised (encompassing "access to vital raw materials, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "the United States should be positioned to operate alone when cooperative measures cannot be orchestrated," explicitly referencing armed actions against Iraq.
Bush also had arrived in the presidency somewhat determined on carrying out what his predecessor had specifically avoided to do in 1991; topple Saddam. After he had been sacked by the White House, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill disclosed how, at the first meeting of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his objective of lowering America's involvement in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and mooted military action against Iraq.
Bush bore a personal grudge against Saddam, convinced he had been involved in a conspiracy to assassinate his father, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore objected to that one of the largest hotels in Baghdad had a ground design with a image of his parent's visage that each person had to tread upon.
Interrogation Methods
However it was Cheney who was one of the most vehement advocating invading Iraq, consistently referencing information documents that were whether weak or entirely inaccurate. He supported what the Bush administration euphemistically referred to as "advanced techniques", the use of interrogation method and physical pressure.
Responding to a Senate analysis in 2014 that concluded that no useful information had resulted from the interrogation methods, Cheney dismissed the findings as "riddled with crap". He informed Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to take steps and put in place initiatives to capture the perpetrators who murdered 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 credit."
Public Persona
Cheney reveled in monikers imposed on him by critics such as the dark character and The Prince of Darkness, and by the idea that he was a shadow power controlling Bush. In the author's 2013 book about the pair, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is cited as commenting: "Is it me who is the malevolent mastermind in the corner that nobody ever sees emerge from his lair? This represents a advantageous way to operate, actually."
Business Interests
Dispute over his corporate affiliations accompanied him through his period as second-in-command. While he had little experience in corporate affairs but good contacts in defence, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's biggest oil and gas conglomerates, in 1995 as leader and CEO.
In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's VP candidate for the presidency. Contentiously, during the military campaign, Halliburton was granted US deals valued at billions.
It significantly boosted his finances. His yearly compensation during his tenure at the firm rose from his previous salary when he was Pentagon chief to over four million. When he left in 2000 he had a severance arrangement totaling in excess of $20m|twenty
