The former US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who has died at age 84, was seen as arguably the most influential holders of the vice-presidency in American history. Although many vice-presidents were limited to marginal or ceremonial positions, Cheney held substantial influence during the term of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was commonly described as the "actual president".
Bush objected to that description and claimed the dynamic was more complex. He pointed out that Cheney was courteous, always addressing him in official appearances as President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush disputed even characterisations of their partnership as a team because it suggested that they were equals. Regardless of such protestations, Cheney viewed the laidback president pliable on a whole raft of policy decisions.
A Aftermath of 9/11
In charge of a contingent of neo-conservatives that encompassed defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 assault, Bush had been attending a gathering at a educational institution in Florida. While Bush made his way to a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, ordering the downing of any unidentified aircraft approaching the US Capitol.
Cheney stated the strikes changed him, leading him to become intent on retaliation. In conjunction with other neo-conservatives, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a takeover of Afghanistan in an attempt to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the invasion of Iraq, although there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein playing a role.
Controversial Actions
He expressed no regrets about the invasion, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis died, or about the waterboarding of detainees captured after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was predicated on inaccurate information circulated by Cheney, was the proper path to take. "It was the correct action to do back then. I believed it at the time and I believe it today."
But during that period, there were opposing views at a senior level about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the government's own special envoys to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the post. "I witnessed, as a baseline," he wrote later "true dereliction, negligence, and irresponsibility: potentially, deception, unfitness, and graft."
Broader Context
Cheney was not solely responsible for the Iraq campaign. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for similar measures. He had composed a memo setting out scenarios in which American interests might be endangered (featuring "availability of essential resources, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "America should be positioned to take unilateral action when joint efforts prove impossible," explicitly mentioning military moves against Iraq.
Bush too had assumed the White House somewhat determined on implementing what his predecessor had specifically avoided to do in 1991; remove Saddam. After he had been fired by the administration, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill disclosed how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had announced his plan of reducing America's engagement in the Middle East dispute and proposed defense operations against Iraq.
Bush carried a private grievance against Saddam, believing he had been responsible for a plot to kill his father, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He also resented that one of the biggest accommodations in Baghdad had a floor mural with a portrait of his parent's visage that everyone had to tread upon.
Interrogation Methods
However it was Cheney who was one of the most vociferous supporting striking Iraq, consistently citing intelligence reports that were either insubstantial or completely inaccurate. He endorsed what the Bush administration indirectly described as "enhanced interrogation", the application of waterboarding and physical pressure.
Responding to a Senate document in 2014 that determined that no valuable data had come from the harsh techniques, Cheney dismissed the report as "riddled with crap". He informed Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to establish protocols and put in place initiatives to apprehend the perpetrators who took the lives of 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it never happened again. That's exactly what they did and they earn a lot of credit."
Public Image
Cheney reveled in nicknames given to him by critics such as the dark character and the dark figure, and by the concept that he was a sinister influence manipulating Bush. In the author's 2013 volume about the two, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is reported as stating: "Am I the sinister strategist in the corner that remains unseen emerge from his domain? That is a effective way to function, actually."
Business Interests
Dispute over his corporate affiliations accompanied him during his tenure as second-in-command. Although he had little experience in corporate affairs but good contacts in military, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's largest petroleum corporations, in 1995 as leader and chief executive.
In 2000 he was selected as Bush's running mate for the White House. Debatably, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was granted US agreements worth multiple billions.
It greatly increased his wealth. His annual income during his tenure at the firm rose from his $258,394 during his time as military head to over four million. When he departed in 2000 he had a compensation package totaling over $20m|twenty
