The deceased US VP Dick Cheney, who has died at age 84, was considered arguably the most influential holders of that office in American history. Although countless second-in-commands were confined to peripheral or figurehead functions, Cheney exercised huge influence during the administration of George W Bush, so much so that he was often referred to as the "real president".
Bush disliked this portrayal and claimed the connection was more complicated. He observed that Cheney was deferential, always addressing him in public settings as President, while he called him as Dick. Bush challenged even characterisations of their association as a partnership because it suggested that they were on equal footing. Regardless of these denials, Cheney found the relaxed president accommodating on a whole raft of policy decisions.
A Aftermath of 9/11
At the head of a faction 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 response to the September 11th attacks on New York and Washington. During of the 9/11 assault, Bush had been participating in a meeting at a school in Florida. As Bush traveled to a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, commanding the downing of any unresponsive aircraft heading toward the Capitol building.
Cheney claimed the attacks changed him, causing him to be determined on revenge. Together with other neo-cons, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a takeover of Afghanistan in an endeavor to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the military action of Iraq, though there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein having involvement.
Disputed Decisions
He voiced no apologies about the armed intervention, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, and not about the waterboarding of detainees rounded up after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was founded on misleading intelligence repeated by Cheney, was the right course of action. "It represented the correct action to do then. I believed it back then and I maintain that stance now."
Yet even then, there were opposing views at a top tier about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the administration's own special envoys to the Middle East, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the position. "I saw, as a baseline," he wrote later "true dereliction, negligence, and unaccountability: potentially, deception, ineptitude, and dishonesty."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not solely accountable for the Iraq military action. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for comparable steps. He had drafted a document setting out scenarios in which national priorities might be threatened (including "access to essential resources, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "the US should be positioned to act independently when collective action cannot be orchestrated," specifically citing defense operations against Iraq.
Bush also had assumed the Oval Office somewhat determined on implementing what his predecessor had specifically avoided to do in 1991; topple Saddam. Following he had been fired by the administration, the finance chief Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his objective of diminishing America's engagement in the regional tensions and suggested military action against Iraq.
Bush carried a private grievance against Saddam, believing he had been behind a scheme to assassinate his father, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore disliked that one of the biggest establishments in Baghdad had a ground design with a likeness of his predecessor's visage that each person had to tread upon.
Interrogation Methods
However it was Cheney who was one of the most vociferous behind invading Iraq, consistently citing agency briefings that were both weak or completely inaccurate. He backed what the Bush administration politely called as "advanced techniques", the use of simulated drowning and physical pressure.
Addressing a Senate analysis in 2014 that concluded that no actionable intelligence had been obtained through the torture, Cheney rejected the report as "loaded with crap". He told Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to take steps and establish procedures to capture the bastards who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it would not recur. That's exactly what they did and they merit a lot of credit."
Public Persona
Cheney reveled in nicknames given to him by critics such as the dark character and the dark figure, and by the notion that he was a shadow power controlling Bush. In the journalist's 2013 publication about the duo, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is quoted as saying: "Is it me who is the sinister strategist in the background that remains unseen emerge from his hole? That is a nice way to operate, actually."
Commercial Ties
Debate over his commercial relationships followed him throughout his time as second-in-command. While he had minimal expertise in business but established relationships in military, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's biggest energy corporations, in 1995 as chairman and CEO.
In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's running mate for the executive branch. Contentiously, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was awarded US contracts worth substantial sums.
It made him rich. His annual income during his time at the firm increased from his previous salary when he was Pentagon chief to over four million. When he departed in 2000 he had a severance arrangement worth over $20m|twenty
