The former US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who has died at the age of 84, was regarded as arguably the most powerful holders of that position in American history. Although many VPs had to settle for peripheral or ceremonial positions, Cheney held enormous power during the administration of George W Bush, to the point that he was frequently described as the "real president".
Bush resented that description and said the dynamic was more complicated. He observed that Cheney was respectful, always referring to him in public settings as President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush challenged even descriptions of their partnership as a partnership because it implied that they were peers. In spite of these denials, Cheney considered the relaxed president pliable on a broad range of governmental choices.
The Post-9/11 Era
Leading of a group of neo-cons that featured defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the invasion of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 strike, Bush had been participating in a meeting at a educational institution in Florida. While Bush traveled to a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, commanding the shooting down of any non-communicating airplanes heading toward the Capitol building.
Cheney stated the attacks changed him, making him become intent on retaliation. Together with other neo-conservatives, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a invasion of Afghanistan in an attempt to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the armed intervention of Iraq, though there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Controversial Decisions
He showed no remorse about the armed intervention, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis perished, nor about the waterboarding of detainees apprehended after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was based on misleading information circulated by Cheney, was the right path to take. "It was the right thing to do at that time. I had faith then and I believe it today."
But even then, there were contrary opinions at a top tier about the poor management of Iraq. One of the administration's own delegates to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the role. "I observed, as a baseline," he later wrote "clear negligence, inaction, and recklessness: in the worst case, falsehoods, incompetence, and graft."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not completely responsible for the Iraq military action. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for similar measures. He had drafted a document detailing situations in which American interests might be endangered (including "availability of vital raw materials, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "the US should be prepared to take unilateral action when joint efforts prove impossible," particularly mentioning defense operations against Iraq.
Bush also had assumed the presidency vaguely intent on carrying out what his father had famously refused to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. Subsequent to he had been fired by the president, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his intention of reducing America's participation in the Middle East dispute and suggested defense operations against Iraq.
Bush bore a individual resentment against Saddam, convinced he had been involved in a conspiracy to assassinate his parent, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore disliked that one of the biggest hotels in Baghdad had a ground design with a image of his parent's countenance that all visitors had to walk over.
Investigation Approaches
But it was Cheney who was one of the most outspoken advocating striking Iraq, repeatedly citing agency briefings that were whether weak or entirely inaccurate. He supported what the Bush administration indirectly described as "enhanced interrogation", the employment of interrogation method and torture.
Addressing a Senate report in 2014 that concluded that no actionable intelligence had resulted from the torture, Cheney rejected the conclusions as "loaded with crap". He told Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to implement measures and create procedures to capture the perpetrators who took the lives of 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it would not recur. That is precisely what they did and they deserve a lot of recognition."
Public Image
Cheney enjoyed labels imposed on him by opponents such as the Star Wars villain and the sinister presence, and by the idea that he was a sinister influence directing Bush. In Peter Baker's 2013 book about the pair, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is cited as commenting: "Am I the malevolent mastermind in the background that operates invisibly come out of his hole? This represents a nice way to function, truthfully."
Corporate Connections
Debate over his business interests pursued him through his period as vice-president. Even though he had limited background in commerce but good contacts in military, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's biggest oil and gas corporations, in 1995 as chairman and CEO.
In 2000 he became Bush's election partner for the executive branch. Controversially, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was given US contracts valued at multiple billions.
It made him rich. His yearly compensation during his time at the firm rose from his quarter-million dollars while defence secretary to over four million. When he left in 2000 he had a package totaling over $20m|twenty
