The late US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who has died at the age of 84, was seen as one of the most powerful incumbents of that office in the nation's history. Whereas countless vice-presidents were confined to minor or symbolic positions, Cheney wielded huge power during the administration of George W Bush, to the point that he was frequently described as the "actual president".
Bush resented this portrayal and said the dynamic was more complex. He noted that Cheney was respectful, invariably referring to him in public settings as President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush challenged even characterisations of their relationship as a team because it suggested that they were equals. In spite of these denials, Cheney found the laidback president pliable on a wide array of governmental choices.
The Period Following the Attacks
Leading of a faction of neo-conservatives that included military head Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in response to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. At the time of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been participating in a meeting at a school in Florida. While Bush headed for a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, commanding the destruction of any non-communicating airplanes approaching the government building.
Cheney claimed the assaults altered his perspective, making him become intent on revenge. In conjunction with other neo-conservatives, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a occupation of Afghanistan in an attempt to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the armed intervention of Iraq, although there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein having involvement.
Disputed Decisions
He showed no remorse about the armed intervention, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, or about the waterboarding of suspects apprehended after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was founded on inaccurate reports repeated by Cheney, was the proper decision. "It was the proper decision to do then. I believed it at the time and I maintain that stance presently."
However even at the time, 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 reappointed from the post. "I saw, as a baseline," he subsequently stated "clear negligence, inaction, and recklessness: in the worst case, deception, incompetence, and graft."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not completely accountable for the Iraq campaign. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for such action. He had drafted a memo outlining circumstances in which national priorities might be endangered (featuring "obtaining crucial commodities, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "the US should be prepared to operate alone when collective action prove impossible," particularly citing defense operations against Iraq.
Bush additionally had assumed the White House somewhat determined on implementing what his predecessor had famously refused to do in 1991; topple Saddam. Following he had been sacked by the White House, the finance chief Paul O'Neill disclosed how, at the first meeting of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his plan of reducing America's participation in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and proposed defense operations against Iraq.
Bush held a private grievance against Saddam, thinking he had been behind a conspiracy to assassinate his father, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore disliked that one of the largest accommodations in Baghdad had a floor mural with a portrait of his parent's visage that everyone had to tread upon.
Interrogation Methods
Yet it was Cheney who was one of the most vociferous advocating invading Iraq, frequently citing agency briefings that were both thin or entirely inaccurate. He supported what the Bush administration euphemistically referred to as "intensive questioning", the use of simulated drowning and physical pressure.
Responding to a Senate document in 2014 that found that no useful information had been obtained through the torture, Cheney disregarded the findings as "full of crap". He stated to Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to establish protocols and create initiatives to capture the bastards who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it was not repeated. That's exactly what they did and they merit a lot of credit."
External Perception
Cheney reveled in monikers assigned to him by critics such as Darth Vader and the sinister presence, and by the concept that he was a shadow power controlling Bush. In the journalist's 2013 publication about the two, 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 operates invisibly leave his lair? This represents a nice way to function, truthfully."
Commercial Ties
Debate over his corporate affiliations followed him during his tenure as vice-president. Although he had little experience in commerce but good contacts in security, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's largest energy conglomerates, in 1995 as chair and top executive.
In 2000 he was selected as Bush's running mate for the White House. Controversially, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was given US contracts totaling multiple billions.
It greatly increased his wealth. His yearly compensation during his time at the company grew from his quarter-million dollars while defence secretary to over four million. When he left in 2000 he had a severance arrangement worth in excess of $20m|twenty
