The deceased US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who has died at age 84, was seen as among the most influential holders of the vice-presidency in American history. While countless vice-presidents were confined to minor or symbolic positions, Cheney exercised enormous power during the term of George W Bush, so much so that he was frequently called as the "true president".
Bush resented such a characterisation and claimed the relationship was more complex. He observed that Cheney was courteous, invariably addressing him in public as the President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush disputed even portrayals of their association as a team because it indicated that they were peers. Regardless of such protestations, Cheney found the relaxed president pliable on a broad range of administrative determinations.
A Aftermath of 9/11
In charge of a faction of neo-cons that included Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the military intervention of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the September 11th attacks on New York and Washington. During of the 9/11 strike, Bush had been attending a session at a educational institution in Florida. While Bush traveled to a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, ordering the shooting down of any unresponsive planes nearing the US Capitol.
Cheney claimed the attacks transformed him, making him become focused on retribution. In conjunction with other neo-cons, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a takeover of Afghanistan in an effort to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then pressed fiercely for the military action of Iraq, though there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein having involvement.
Debated Actions
He voiced no apologies about the armed intervention, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis died, or about the waterboarding of detainees captured after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was based on inaccurate information repeated by Cheney, was the right decision. "It was the right thing to do at that time. I had faith back then and I maintain that stance presently."
But even then, there were opposing views at a high level about the poor management of Iraq. One of the government's own representatives to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the role. "I saw, at a minimum," he later wrote "clear negligence, carelessness, and irresponsibility: potentially, deception, incompetence, and dishonesty."
Broader Context
Cheney was not solely accountable for the Iraq military action. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for similar measures. He had drafted a document outlining scenarios in which American interests might be compromised (including "availability of vital raw materials, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "the United States should be prepared to act independently when collective action cannot be orchestrated," particularly mentioning military moves against Iraq.
Bush also had arrived in the Oval Office vaguely intent on carrying out what his parent had famously refused to do in 1991; remove Saddam. After he had been fired by the White House, the finance chief Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had announced his plan of reducing America's involvement in the regional tensions and mooted defense operations against Iraq.
Bush held a private grievance against Saddam, thinking he had been involved in a plot to assassinate his father, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He also resented that one of the most prominent hotels in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a likeness of his predecessor's visage that each person had to tread upon.
Questioning Techniques
However it was Cheney who was part of the most vehement advocating striking Iraq, frequently citing information documents that were both insubstantial or entirely inaccurate. He backed what the Bush government euphemistically referred to as "intensive questioning", the use of simulated drowning and harsh treatment.
Answering a Senate document in 2014 that found that no valuable data had resulted from the harsh techniques, Cheney dismissed the findings as "riddled with crap". He stated to Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to implement measures and establish programmes to capture the individuals who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it would not recur. That was specifically what they did and they earn a lot of credit."
Public Persona
Cheney reveled in monikers imposed on him by opponents such as the Star Wars villain and the dark figure, and by the concept that he was a dark force manipulating 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: "Is it me who is the malevolent mastermind in the background that nobody ever sees leave his lair? That is a effective way to work, actually."
Commercial Ties
Debate over his commercial relationships accompanied him during his tenure as VP. Even though he had little experience in corporate affairs but good contacts in military, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's largest petroleum conglomerates, in 1995 as leader and chief executive.
In 2000 he was selected as Bush's VP candidate for the executive branch. Controversially, during the military campaign, Halliburton was granted US agreements worth billions.
It significantly boosted his finances. His yearly earnings during his period at the firm grew from his $258,394 during his time as defence secretary to millions. When he left in 2000 he had a compensation package worth more than $20m|twenty
