The former US VP Dick Cheney, who has died at the age of 84, was considered among the most significant occupants of that position in American history. While many second-in-commands had to settle for marginal or figurehead functions, Cheney exercised substantial influence during the term of George W Bush, to the point that he was frequently described as the "actual president".
Bush objected to such a characterisation and claimed the connection was more complicated. He observed that Cheney was respectful, consistently addressing him in public as Mr President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush disputed even portrayals of their partnership as a collaboration because it implied that they were peers. In spite of such protestations, Cheney viewed the easygoing president malleable on a wide array of governmental choices.
The Post-9/11 Era
At the head of a contingent of neo-conservatives that encompassed defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command 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 strike, Bush had been attending a meeting at a educational institution in Florida. As Bush traveled to a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney took command, commanding the downing of any non-communicating planes heading toward the government building.
Cheney claimed the assaults transformed him, making him become focused on retribution. In conjunction with other conservative figures, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a takeover of Afghanistan in an endeavor to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the armed intervention of Iraq, even though there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein playing a role.
Disputed Policies
He expressed no regrets about the military campaign, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, and not about the harsh treatment of suspects rounded up after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was founded on faulty intelligence circulated by Cheney, was the proper path to take. "It proved to be the proper decision to do at that time. I was convinced then and I hold that view presently."
Yet even at the time, there were contrary opinions at a senior level about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the administration's own representatives to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the post. "I saw, at the very least," he subsequently stated "clear negligence, negligence, and irresponsibility: at worst, falsehoods, ineptitude, and dishonesty."
Additional Factors
Cheney was not entirely accountable for the Iraq military action. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for comparable steps. He had drafted a document outlining circumstances in which US concerns might be threatened (encompassing "availability of essential resources, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "the United States should be prepared to act independently when cooperative measures cannot be arranged," explicitly citing military moves against Iraq.
Bush also had entered the presidency somewhat determined on executing what his parent had famously refused to do in 1991; topple Saddam. Following he had been fired by the administration, the finance chief Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the first meeting of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his intention of diminishing America's involvement in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and proposed military action against Iraq.
Bush carried a personal grudge against Saddam, thinking he had been involved in a conspiracy to assassinate his father, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He also resented that one of the biggest hotels in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a portrait of his predecessor's visage that everyone had to tread upon.
Questioning Techniques
But it was Cheney who was among the most outspoken supporting striking Iraq, repeatedly quoting agency briefings that were both weak or completely deceptive. He backed what the Bush White House indirectly described as "advanced techniques", the application of simulated drowning and physical pressure.
Addressing a Senate analysis in 2014 that found that no useful information had been obtained through the harsh techniques, Cheney dismissed the conclusions as "loaded with crap". He told Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to take steps and put in place programmes to apprehend the individuals who took the lives of 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it was not repeated. That's exactly what they did and they earn a lot of credit."
External Perception
Cheney reveled in monikers assigned to him by critics such as the dark character and The Prince of Darkness, and by the notion that he was a shadow power directing Bush. In the author's 2013 publication about the two, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is quoted as saying: "Am I the malevolent mastermind in the shadows that operates invisibly emerge from his lair? It's a nice way to operate, in fact."
Business Interests
Dispute over his corporate affiliations accompanied him throughout his time as vice-president. Even though he had little experience in corporate affairs but established relationships in military, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's biggest oil and gas conglomerates, in 1995 as leader and CEO.
In 2000 he became Bush's VP candidate for the presidency. Controversially, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was granted US agreements valued at billions.
It made him rich. His yearly earnings during his period at the firm grew from his previous salary while Pentagon chief to millions. When he left in 2000 he had a severance arrangement valued at more than $20m|twenty
