The late US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who has died at the age of 84, was considered arguably the most powerful incumbents of that position in US history. Whereas countless VPs were confined to minor or ceremonial positions, Cheney wielded substantial influence during the administration of George W Bush, so much so that he was often called as the "real president".
Bush disliked that description and claimed the dynamic was more complicated. He observed that Cheney was deferential, consistently referring to him in official appearances as President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush disputed even characterisations of their partnership as a team because it implied that they were on equal footing. Regardless of these denials, Cheney considered the laidback president malleable on a broad range of governmental choices.
A Period Following the Attacks
At the head of a faction of conservative hawks that encompassed defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in reaction to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. During of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been participating in a meeting at a elementary school in Florida. While Bush made his way to a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, ordering the shooting down of any unidentified planes nearing the government building.
Cheney claimed the attacks transformed him, leading him to become determined on retribution. Along with other neo-conservatives, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a occupation of Afghanistan in an attempt to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the military action of Iraq, although there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Debated Decisions
He expressed no regrets about the invasion, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis perished, nor about the harsh treatment of detainees rounded up after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was founded on faulty information repeated by Cheney, was the right path to take. "It represented the right thing to do at that time. I believed it at the time and I believe it now."
But during that period, there were dissenting voices at a high level about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the administration's own representatives to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the role. "I saw, at the very least," he wrote later "clear negligence, carelessness, and irresponsibility: in the worst case, falsehoods, ineptitude, and dishonesty."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not completely responsible for the Iraq military action. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for similar measures. He had composed a memorandum outlining circumstances in which national priorities might be threatened (encompassing "obtaining crucial commodities, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "America should be postured to act independently when cooperative measures prove impossible," explicitly mentioning military moves against Iraq.
Bush too had entered the Oval Office generally inclined on carrying out what his father had specifically avoided to do in 1991; remove Saddam. Subsequent to he had been dismissed by the administration, the finance chief Paul O'Neill disclosed how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had announced his objective of diminishing America's involvement in the Middle East dispute and proposed military action against Iraq.
Bush held a individual resentment against Saddam, thinking he had been responsible for a conspiracy to assassinate his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally resented that one of the biggest establishments in Baghdad had a ground design with a likeness of his predecessor's countenance that all visitors had to tread upon.
Questioning Techniques
Yet it was Cheney who was among the most vehement behind attacking Iraq, consistently citing agency briefings that were either insubstantial or totally inaccurate. He backed what the Bush government politely called as "intensive questioning", the employment of waterboarding and physical pressure.
Answering a Senate report in 2014 that determined that no valuable data had been obtained through the interrogation methods, Cheney rejected the findings as "riddled with crap". He stated to Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to establish protocols and put in place programmes to capture the bastards who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it never happened again. That is precisely what they did and they merit a lot of credit."
Public Persona
Cheney enjoyed monikers imposed on him by detractors such as the Star Wars villain and the dark figure, and by the notion that he was a sinister influence controlling Bush. In the author's 2013 book about the pair, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is reported as stating: "Am I the malevolent mastermind in the background that remains unseen leave his hole? That is a advantageous way to function, in fact."
Commercial Ties
Controversy over his business interests accompanied him throughout his time as second-in-command. Although he had minimal expertise in corporate affairs but established relationships in defence, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's biggest oil and gas corporations, in 1995 as chair and CEO.
In 2000 he was selected as Bush's VP candidate for the White House. Contentiously, during the military campaign, Halliburton was granted US agreements totaling substantial sums.
It significantly boosted his finances. His yearly compensation during his period at the corporation rose from his previous salary during his time as Pentagon chief to $4.4m. When he departed in 2000 he had a compensation package totaling over $20m|twenty
