The late US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who has died at the age of 84, was seen as one of the most powerful occupants of that office in US history. While numerous second-in-commands had to settle for peripheral or ceremonial positions, Cheney held huge power during the presidency of George W Bush, so much so that he was frequently called as the "actual president".
Bush objected to such a characterisation and said the connection was more complex. He noted that Cheney was deferential, always addressing him in official appearances as Mr President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush questioned even portrayals of their association as a partnership because it implied that they were peers. Despite such protestations, Cheney viewed the laidback president pliable on a broad range of policy decisions.
The Post-9/11 Era
In charge of a faction of neo-conservatives that encompassed Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the military intervention of Iraq in 2003 in response to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. During of the 9/11 strike, Bush had been participating in a session at a educational institution in Florida. As Bush headed for a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney took command, commanding the downing of any unresponsive aircraft approaching the US Capitol.
Cheney stated the strikes altered his perspective, leading him to become determined on revenge. Together with other conservative figures, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a takeover of Afghanistan in an attempt to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the military action of Iraq, though there was little proof of Saddam Hussein playing a role.
Debated Policies
He voiced no apologies about the armed intervention, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis perished, or about the harsh treatment of individuals captured after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was predicated on misleading intelligence circulated by Cheney, was the proper decision. "It was the right thing to do at that time. I had faith then and I maintain that stance today."
But during that period, there were opposing views at a top tier about the botched execution of Iraq. One of the White House's own delegates to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the role. "I witnessed, at a minimum," he wrote later "true dereliction, carelessness, and irresponsibility: at worst, falsehoods, unfitness, and corruption."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not completely to blame for the Iraq campaign. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for such action. He had drafted a memorandum detailing circumstances in which US concerns might be threatened (including "obtaining essential resources, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "the US should be positioned to take unilateral action when collective action cannot be orchestrated," particularly mentioning military moves against Iraq.
Bush additionally had entered the presidency generally inclined on implementing what his predecessor had famously refused to do in 1991; remove Saddam. Following he had been fired 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 stated his objective of diminishing America's participation in the Middle East dispute and proposed military action against Iraq.
Bush carried a individual resentment against Saddam, believing he had been behind a plot to murder his father, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore resented that one of the most prominent hotels in Baghdad had a ground design with a portrait of his parent's face that everyone had to tread upon.
Interrogation Methods
However it was Cheney who was one of the most outspoken supporting attacking Iraq, consistently citing information documents that were whether thin or totally inaccurate. He supported what the Bush government indirectly described as "advanced techniques", the use of simulated drowning and torture.
Answering a Senate document in 2014 that found that no valuable data had come from the torture, Cheney rejected the findings as "riddled with crap". He informed Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to implement measures and create initiatives to capture the perpetrators who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it never happened again. That was specifically what they did and they earn a lot of praise."
External Perception
Cheney reveled in nicknames assigned to him by opponents such as Darth Vader and the dark figure, and by the notion that he was a dark force directing Bush. In Peter Baker's 2013 publication about the two, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is cited as commenting: "Am I the malevolent mastermind in the shadows that remains unseen emerge from his hole? It's a effective way to work, actually."
Commercial Ties
Dispute over his corporate affiliations pursued him throughout his time as vice-president. Although he had little experience in commerce but good contacts in military, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial energy companies, in 1995 as chairman and CEO.
In 2000 he became Bush's running mate for the presidency. Controversially, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was awarded US deals totaling multiple billions.
It made him rich. His yearly earnings during his period at the company rose from his quarter-million dollars during his time as Pentagon chief to $4.4m. When he left in 2000 he had a severance arrangement worth over $20m|twenty
