The deceased US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who has died at age 84, was regarded as arguably the most influential incumbents of that office in American history. Although numerous vice-presidents were limited to minor or symbolic roles, Cheney exercised huge power during the administration of George W Bush, so much so that he was often described as the "real president".
Bush objected to that description and claimed the connection was more nuanced. He pointed out that Cheney was courteous, invariably addressing him in public as the President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush challenged even characterisations of their partnership as a collaboration because it suggested that they were equals. In spite of such protestations, Cheney considered the easygoing president pliable on a broad range of governmental choices.
The Post-9/11 Era
In charge of a faction of neo-conservatives that encompassed defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the invasion of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the September 11th attacks on New York and Washington. During of the 9/11 strike, Bush had been taking part in a meeting at a school in Florida. Whereas Bush headed for a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, commanding the downing of any unidentified aircraft heading toward the US Capitol.
Cheney said the assaults altered his perspective, causing him to be determined on retaliation. Together with other neo-conservatives, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a invasion of Afghanistan in an attempt to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the invasion of Iraq, though there was little proof of Saddam Hussein having involvement.
Disputed Policies
He expressed no regrets about the invasion, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, nor about the waterboarding of detainees rounded up after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was predicated on faulty reports repeated by Cheney, was the proper course of action. "It was the correct action to do then. I believed it back then and I believe it presently."
But during that period, there were dissenting voices at a senior level about the poor management of Iraq. One of the government's own representatives to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the role. "I saw, at a minimum," he subsequently stated "true dereliction, carelessness, and irresponsibility: at worst, lying, ineptitude, and graft."
Additional Factors
Cheney was not solely to blame for the Iraq campaign. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for similar measures. He had drafted a memorandum setting out circumstances in which US concerns might be endangered (featuring "access to crucial commodities, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "America should be prepared to take unilateral action when joint efforts cannot be arranged," explicitly citing military moves against Iraq.
Bush too had assumed the Oval Office generally inclined on carrying out what his father had famously refused to do in 1991; topple Saddam. Following he had been sacked by the president, the Treasury head 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 mooted defense operations against Iraq.
Bush held a personal grudge against Saddam, thinking he had been involved in a conspiracy to assassinate his father, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally disliked that one of the most prominent accommodations in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a likeness of his father's countenance that each person had to step on.
Questioning Techniques
Yet it was Cheney who was one of the most vociferous supporting striking Iraq, consistently citing intelligence reports that were both weak or entirely misleading. He endorsed what the Bush White House politely called as "enhanced interrogation", the employment of waterboarding and torture.
Answering a Senate analysis in 2014 that determined that no actionable intelligence had been obtained through the harsh techniques, Cheney dismissed the conclusions as "full of crap". He stated to Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to establish protocols and put in place programmes to apprehend the bastards who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it was not repeated. That's exactly what they did and they deserve a lot of recognition."
Public Persona
Cheney enjoyed nicknames given to him by critics such as the Star Wars villain and the sinister presence, and by the notion that he was a shadow power manipulating Bush. In Peter Baker's 2013 publication 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 shadows that remains unseen come out of his hole? It's a effective way to function, truthfully."
Commercial Ties
Controversy over his corporate affiliations accompanied him through his period as VP. Although he had little experience in commerce but strong connections in military, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's largest oil and gas conglomerates, in 1995 as chair and chief executive.
In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's VP candidate for the executive branch. Controversially, during the military campaign, Halliburton was given US deals worth substantial sums.
It significantly boosted his finances. His annual income during his tenure at the firm rose from his previous salary when he was military head to $4.4m. When he departed in 2000 he had a compensation package totaling more than $20m|twenty
