The former US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who has died at the age of 84, was regarded as among the most influential holders of that position in US history. While numerous VPs were limited to marginal or symbolic roles, Cheney held huge influence during the term of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was frequently described as the "actual president".
Bush objected to that description and said the relationship was more complex. He noted that Cheney was respectful, invariably addressing him in public as President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush challenged even portrayals of their relationship as a partnership because it suggested that they were peers. Despite these objections, Cheney considered the relaxed president malleable on a whole raft of administrative determinations.
A Aftermath of 9/11
At the head of a group of neo-conservatives that encompassed military head Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the military intervention of Iraq in 2003 in reaction to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 assault, Bush had been participating in a meeting at a school in Florida. Whereas Bush headed for a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, directing the downing of any non-communicating aircraft nearing the Capitol building.
Cheney said the attacks altered his perspective, making him become focused on retribution. Together with other neo-cons, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a invasion of Afghanistan in an endeavor to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the invasion of Iraq, although there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein playing a role.
Disputed Actions
He expressed no regrets about the invasion, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, nor about the enhanced interrogation of detainees captured after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was predicated on inaccurate information circulated by Cheney, was the correct path to take. "It proved to be the right thing to do back then. I had faith at the time and I believe it presently."
However during that period, there were contrary opinions at a senior level about the botched execution of Iraq. One of the administration's own special envoys to the Middle East, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the role. "I saw, at a minimum," he subsequently stated "obvious failure, inaction, and recklessness: at worst, falsehoods, unfitness, and graft."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not completely accountable for the Iraq invasion. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for comparable steps. He had written a memo setting out situations in which American interests might be threatened (featuring "access to vital raw materials, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "America should be prepared to operate alone when joint efforts prove impossible," explicitly citing defense operations against Iraq.
Bush too had entered the presidency generally inclined on implementing what his parent had specifically avoided to do in 1991; topple Saddam. Following he had been fired by the administration, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the first meeting of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had announced his objective of reducing America's engagement in the regional tensions and suggested defense operations against Iraq.
Bush bore a private grievance against Saddam, believing he had been responsible for a scheme to assassinate his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He also resented that one of the largest accommodations in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a portrait of his predecessor's face that each person had to tread upon.
Questioning Techniques
However it was Cheney who was part of the most vehement behind invading Iraq, repeatedly citing agency briefings that were whether weak or totally misleading. He endorsed what the Bush administration indirectly described as "advanced techniques", the use of simulated drowning and torture.
Addressing a Senate report in 2014 that found that no valuable data had resulted from the torture, Cheney dismissed the conclusions as "loaded with crap". He informed Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to take steps and put in place procedures to capture the individuals who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it was not repeated. That was specifically what they did and they merit a lot of recognition."
External Perception
Cheney took pleasure in labels given to him by critics such as the dark character and the sinister presence, and by the idea that he was a dark force directing Bush. In the journalist'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 sinister strategist in the corner that nobody ever sees come out of his lair? That is a nice way to function, truthfully."
Commercial Ties
Dispute over his corporate affiliations pursued him throughout his time as second-in-command. While he had minimal expertise in commerce but good contacts in defence, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's largest energy corporations, in 1995 as chairman and top executive.
In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's election partner for the executive branch. Contentiously, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was granted US agreements totaling multiple billions.
It greatly increased his wealth. His annual income during his tenure at the corporation rose from his $258,394 during his time as Pentagon chief to $4.4m. When he resigned in 2000 he had a severance arrangement totaling over $20m|twenty
