The former US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who has died at the age of 84, was regarded as among the most significant holders of that position in the nation's history. Although numerous vice-presidents were confined to marginal or symbolic functions, Cheney wielded substantial influence during the presidency of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was commonly referred to as the "true president".
Bush resented that description and stated the dynamic was more complicated. He pointed out that Cheney was deferential, invariably calling him in public as President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush challenged even portrayals of their partnership as a partnership because it implied that they were equals. Despite such protestations, Cheney viewed the laidback president pliable on a whole raft of policy decisions.
A Post-9/11 Era
Leading of a group of conservative hawks that included military head Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. During of the 9/11 strike, Bush had been attending a session at a school in Florida. As Bush traveled to a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, directing the destruction of any unresponsive aircraft approaching the US Capitol.
Cheney stated the strikes changed him, causing him to be intent on revenge. In conjunction with other neo-conservatives, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a takeover of Afghanistan in an attempt to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the invasion of Iraq, even though there was little proof of Saddam Hussein playing a role.
Disputed Policies
He expressed no regrets about the armed intervention, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis died, and not about the waterboarding of individuals apprehended after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was founded on faulty information circulated by Cheney, was the proper course of action. "It proved to be the proper decision to do then. I had faith at the time and I believe it now."
However even then, there were dissenting voices at a top tier about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the administration's own delegates to the Middle East, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the position. "I observed, as a baseline," he subsequently stated "clear negligence, negligence, and recklessness: in the worst case, falsehoods, incompetence, and corruption."
Additional Factors
Cheney was not solely responsible for the Iraq invasion. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for comparable steps. He had written a memorandum outlining situations in which American interests might be endangered (including "access to vital raw materials, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "America should be postured to operate alone when cooperative measures cannot be orchestrated," particularly referencing armed actions against Iraq.
Bush too had entered the White House somewhat determined on executing what his parent had famously refused to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. After he had been fired by the administration, the finance chief Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his intention of diminishing America's involvement in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and mooted military action against Iraq.
Bush held a personal grudge against Saddam, thinking he had been responsible for a plot to murder his father, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore disliked that one of the most prominent establishments in Baghdad had a ground design with a likeness of his parent's visage that all visitors had to tread upon.
Questioning Techniques
But it was Cheney who was one of the most vociferous advocating invading Iraq, consistently citing agency briefings that were either weak or entirely misleading. He endorsed what the Bush government politely called as "enhanced interrogation", the application of waterboarding and physical pressure.
Addressing a Senate report in 2014 that determined that no actionable intelligence had resulted from the harsh techniques, Cheney rejected the conclusions as "full of crap". He told Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to take steps and create procedures to catch the individuals who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it never happened again. That's exactly what they did and they deserve a lot of credit."
Public Image
Cheney enjoyed labels imposed on him by critics such as the Star Wars villain and the dark figure, and by the notion that he was a dark force controlling Bush. In Peter Baker's 2013 publication about the pair, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is reported as stating: "Am I the sinister strategist in the corner that nobody ever sees emerge from his domain? It's a nice way to operate, in fact."
Corporate Connections
Debate over his corporate affiliations accompanied him throughout his time as vice-president. While he had limited background in corporate affairs but good contacts in defence, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's biggest energy conglomerates, in 1995 as chair and top executive.
In 2000 he was selected as Bush's election partner for the White House. Debatably, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was awarded US deals totaling substantial sums.
It greatly increased his wealth. His yearly earnings during his tenure at the company increased from his $258,394 during his time as military head to over four million. When he resigned in 2000 he had a package valued at over $20m|twenty
