The former US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who has died at age 84, was regarded as among the most significant occupants of that position in American history. Whereas many VPs were confined to minor or ceremonial roles, Cheney exercised huge sway during the administration of George W Bush, to the point that he was often referred to as the "actual president".
Bush objected to such a characterisation and claimed the relationship was more complicated. He pointed out that Cheney was courteous, always addressing him in public settings as Mr President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush challenged even characterisations of their association as a partnership because it suggested that they were peers. In spite of such protestations, Cheney considered the relaxed president pliable on a broad range of policy decisions.
The Period Following the Attacks
In charge of a faction of conservative hawks that encompassed military head Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the military intervention of Iraq in 2003 in response to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. During of the 9/11 assault, Bush had been taking part in a gathering at a educational institution in Florida. Whereas Bush traveled to a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, ordering the downing of any unidentified airplanes approaching the US Capitol.
Cheney stated the attacks altered his perspective, causing him to be determined on revenge. In conjunction with other neo-conservatives, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a occupation of Afghanistan in an endeavor to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then pressed fiercely for the armed intervention of Iraq, even though there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein having involvement.
Disputed Actions
He expressed no regrets about the military campaign, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis died, and not about the harsh treatment of suspects apprehended after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was predicated on faulty intelligence echoed by Cheney, was the correct decision. "It represented the proper decision to do then. I had faith back then and I maintain that stance presently."
Yet even at the time, there were contrary opinions at a high level about the poor management of Iraq. One of the White House's own delegates to the Middle East, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the role. "I saw, at the very least," he later wrote "clear negligence, negligence, and recklessness: at worst, deception, ineptitude, and corruption."
Additional Factors
Cheney was not solely responsible for the Iraq invasion. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for such action. He had drafted a memorandum setting out situations in which US concerns might be endangered (featuring "availability of essential resources, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "the United States should be prepared to operate alone when joint efforts cannot be orchestrated," particularly referencing defense operations against Iraq.
Bush additionally had arrived in the presidency somewhat determined on executing what his predecessor had famously refused to do in 1991; topple Saddam. Following he had been fired by the White House, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill disclosed how, at the first meeting of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his objective of lowering America's involvement in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and proposed armed intervention against Iraq.
Bush carried a private grievance against Saddam, thinking he had been behind a scheme to murder his parent, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore resented that one of the biggest hotels in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a likeness of his father's countenance that each person had to walk over.
Interrogation Methods
However it was Cheney who was one of the most vociferous advocating attacking Iraq, consistently citing intelligence reports that were whether weak or entirely misleading. He supported what the Bush White House indirectly described as "advanced techniques", the application of interrogation method and harsh treatment.
Responding to a Senate document in 2014 that found that no valuable data had been obtained through the interrogation methods, Cheney rejected the findings as "loaded with crap". He told Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to take steps and create initiatives to apprehend the perpetrators who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it never happened again. That was specifically what they did and they merit a lot of recognition."
Public Persona
Cheney reveled in labels given to him by critics such as the Star Wars villain and the dark figure, and by the concept that he was a dark force controlling Bush. In the author's 2013 publication about the pair, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is reported as stating: "Do I represent the malevolent mastermind in the corner that remains unseen leave his lair? That is a effective way to operate, truthfully."
Business Interests
Debate over his commercial relationships followed him through his period as vice-president. While he had minimal expertise in business but established relationships in military, particularly 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 top executive.
In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's VP candidate for the White House. Debatably, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was given US deals totaling billions.
It greatly increased his wealth. His yearly earnings during his period at the company grew from his $258,394 during his time as military head to millions. When he resigned in 2000 he had a compensation package totaling over $20m|twenty
