The late US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who has died at the age of 84, was seen as among the most significant occupants of that office in American history. While numerous VPs were limited to peripheral or ceremonial roles, Cheney exercised enormous sway during the administration of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was frequently described as the "real president".
Bush disliked that description and claimed the dynamic was more complicated. He pointed out that Cheney was deferential, invariably calling him in official appearances as Mr President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush challenged even descriptions of their association as a partnership because it implied that they were on equal footing. In spite of these objections, Cheney found the laidback president accommodating on a wide array of administrative determinations.
The Aftermath of 9/11
Leading of a group of conservative hawks that encompassed Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the military intervention of Iraq in 2003 in reaction to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 assault, Bush had been participating in a meeting at a educational institution in Florida. Whereas Bush headed for a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney took command, ordering the shooting down of any unidentified planes nearing the US Capitol.
Cheney said the strikes changed him, making him become focused on retribution. Together with other neo-conservatives, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a invasion of Afghanistan in an endeavor to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the invasion of Iraq, although there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Debated Policies
He expressed no regrets about the armed intervention, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis died, and not about the enhanced interrogation of individuals captured after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was predicated on faulty reports echoed by Cheney, was the right course of action. "It proved to be the proper decision to do at that time. I believed it back then and I hold that view now."
But even then, there were dissenting voices at a high level about the botched execution of Iraq. One of the government's own special envoys to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the position. "I saw, as a baseline," he wrote later "obvious failure, negligence, and irresponsibility: at worst, deception, ineptitude, and dishonesty."
Broader Context
Cheney was not entirely accountable for the Iraq military action. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for similar measures. He had written a memo setting out situations in which national priorities might be endangered (encompassing "availability of vital raw materials, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "the United States should be positioned to take unilateral action when collective action prove impossible," specifically mentioning military moves against Iraq.
Bush additionally had entered the White House vaguely intent on carrying out what his parent had notably declined to do in 1991; remove Saddam. Subsequent to he had been sacked by the administration, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had announced his intention of reducing America's involvement in the regional tensions and suggested defense operations against Iraq.
Bush carried a private grievance against Saddam, thinking he had been behind a scheme to assassinate his parent, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore resented that one of the largest hotels in Baghdad had a floor mural with a image of his predecessor's face that everyone had to step on.
Interrogation Methods
But it was Cheney who was one of the most vociferous supporting invading Iraq, frequently quoting intelligence reports that were whether insubstantial or completely deceptive. He supported what the Bush government politely called as "advanced techniques", the application of interrogation method and torture.
Responding to a Senate report in 2014 that concluded that no actionable intelligence had come from the torture, Cheney rejected the conclusions as "loaded with crap". He told Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to establish protocols and put in place programmes to catch the individuals who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it never happened again. That's exactly what they did and they merit a lot of credit."
External Perception
Cheney enjoyed monikers given to him by opponents such as the dark character and the sinister presence, and by the idea that he was a sinister influence controlling Bush. In Peter Baker's 2013 publication about the pair, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is quoted as saying: "Am I the sinister strategist in the corner that operates invisibly come out of his lair? That is a nice way to function, in fact."
Commercial Ties
Dispute over his commercial relationships followed him throughout his time as second-in-command. Although he had minimal expertise in business but strong connections in defence, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial petroleum conglomerates, in 1995 as chairman and top executive.
In 2000 he became Bush's VP candidate for the executive branch. Contentiously, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was granted US contracts valued at multiple billions.
It greatly increased his wealth. His yearly earnings during his time at the firm increased from his quarter-million dollars during his time as military head to over four million. When he departed in 2000 he had a severance arrangement worth more than $20m|twenty
