The former US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who has died at the age of 84, was considered arguably the most significant holders of the vice-presidency in the nation's history. Whereas many vice-presidents were confined to marginal or figurehead positions, Cheney held huge influence during the presidency of George W Bush, to the point that he was frequently described as the "real president".
Bush disliked such a characterisation and stated the connection was more complicated. He pointed out that Cheney was courteous, always calling him in public settings as Mr President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush disputed even portrayals of their relationship as a team because it implied that they were on equal footing. Despite these denials, Cheney found the relaxed president pliable on a broad range of administrative determinations.
The Period Following the Attacks
At the head of a contingent of neo-conservatives that encompassed military head Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the military intervention of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. During of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been attending a gathering at a elementary school in Florida. While Bush traveled to a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney took command, directing the destruction of any unidentified planes heading toward the US Capitol.
Cheney said the assaults transformed him, leading him to become intent on retribution. In conjunction with other neo-conservatives, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a invasion of Afghanistan in an effort to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the armed intervention of Iraq, even though there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein playing a role.
Controversial Decisions
He voiced no apologies about the military campaign, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis died, nor about the waterboarding of detainees captured after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was based on misleading intelligence circulated by Cheney, was the proper course of action. "It proved to be the proper decision to do then. I believed it back then and I hold that view presently."
Yet even at the time, there were dissenting voices at a top tier about the poor management of Iraq. One of the White House's own delegates to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the position. "I saw, as a baseline," he subsequently stated "clear negligence, inaction, and recklessness: in the worst case, lying, incompetence, and corruption."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not entirely responsible for the Iraq invasion. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for such action. He had drafted a memo setting out scenarios in which US concerns might be endangered (featuring "obtaining crucial commodities, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "America should be postured to take unilateral action when collective action prove impossible," particularly mentioning defense operations against Iraq.
Bush too had arrived in the White House generally inclined on implementing what his predecessor had specifically avoided to do in 1991; remove Saddam. Subsequent to he had been sacked by the president, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill disclosed how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his objective of diminishing America's involvement in the Middle East dispute and proposed armed intervention against Iraq.
Bush held a private grievance against Saddam, convinced he had been responsible for a scheme to murder his father, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally resented that one of the largest hotels in Baghdad had a floor mural with a image of his father's countenance that everyone had to step on.
Investigation Approaches
However it was Cheney who was one of the most vociferous supporting striking Iraq, consistently quoting agency briefings that were either insubstantial or completely deceptive. He backed what the Bush administration indirectly described as "intensive questioning", the use of waterboarding and harsh treatment.
Addressing a Senate report in 2014 that concluded that no valuable data had resulted from the torture, Cheney dismissed the conclusions as "riddled with crap". He informed Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to implement measures and put in place procedures to apprehend the individuals who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it would not recur. That is precisely what they did and they merit a lot of credit."
External Perception
Cheney reveled in nicknames assigned to him by critics such as the dark character and the dark figure, and by the idea that he was a shadow power directing Bush. In Peter Baker's 2013 volume about the pair, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is cited as commenting: "Am I the evil genius in the shadows that nobody ever sees come out of his domain? That is a advantageous way to operate, truthfully."
Corporate Connections
Debate over his corporate affiliations followed him throughout his time as vice-president. Although he had limited background in business but strong connections in security, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's largest petroleum conglomerates, in 1995 as leader and top executive.
In 2000 he became Bush's running mate for the executive branch. Controversially, during the military campaign, Halliburton was given US contracts worth billions.
It greatly increased his wealth. His yearly earnings during his time at the firm increased from his quarter-million dollars during his time as Pentagon chief to millions. When he resigned in 2000 he had a compensation package valued at more than $20m|twenty
