The deceased US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who has died at the age of 84, was considered one of the most influential incumbents of the vice-presidency in US history. Whereas numerous VPs were confined to minor or ceremonial functions, Cheney held huge sway during the term of George W Bush, to the point that he was frequently described as the "real president".
Bush disliked such a characterisation and stated the connection was more complicated. He pointed out that Cheney was courteous, invariably referring to him in official appearances as the President, while he called him as Dick. Bush challenged even portrayals of their relationship as a partnership because it suggested that they were on equal footing. Despite such protestations, Cheney viewed the relaxed president malleable on a whole raft of policy decisions.
A Post-9/11 Era
In charge of a faction of conservative hawks that featured Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the invasion of Iraq in 2003 in reaction to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 assault, Bush had been participating in a gathering at a educational institution in Florida. Whereas Bush made his way to a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney took command, ordering the destruction of any unidentified planes approaching the Capitol building.
Cheney stated the assaults altered his perspective, leading him to become determined on retaliation. Along with other neo-conservatives, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a occupation of Afghanistan in an endeavor to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the military action of Iraq, even though there was little proof of Saddam Hussein playing a role.
Controversial Policies
He showed no remorse about the military campaign, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, and not about the enhanced interrogation of detainees rounded up after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was predicated on inaccurate intelligence echoed by Cheney, was the proper course of action. "It was the right thing to do then. I had faith at the time and I maintain that stance now."
But even then, there were contrary opinions at a top tier about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the government'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 "obvious failure, inaction, and recklessness: at worst, falsehoods, ineptitude, and graft."
Additional Factors
Cheney was not entirely accountable for the Iraq military action. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for such action. He had composed a memorandum setting out scenarios in which US concerns might be endangered (encompassing "obtaining essential resources, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "America should be positioned to take unilateral action when cooperative measures cannot be orchestrated," particularly citing defense operations against Iraq.
Bush too had arrived in the presidency vaguely intent on carrying out what his father had notably declined to do in 1991; remove Saddam. Following he had been sacked by the administration, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill disclosed how, at the first meeting of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his objective of reducing America's involvement in the Middle East dispute and mooted military action against Iraq.
Bush held a private grievance against Saddam, convinced he had been involved in a plot to assassinate his parent, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He also objected to that one of the largest accommodations in Baghdad had a ground design with a portrait of his parent's visage that each person had to tread upon.
Interrogation Methods
Yet it was Cheney who was part of the most vehement advocating striking Iraq, frequently citing information documents that were either insubstantial or completely deceptive. He backed what the Bush White House indirectly described as "advanced techniques", the use of simulated drowning and torture.
Addressing a Senate report in 2014 that determined that no actionable intelligence had resulted from the harsh techniques, Cheney disregarded the findings as "full of crap". He informed Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to take steps and establish procedures to apprehend the individuals who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it would not recur. That's exactly what they did and they earn a lot of recognition."
External Perception
Cheney took pleasure in nicknames given to him by critics such as the Star Wars villain and The Prince of Darkness, and by the idea that he was a sinister influence manipulating 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: "Do I represent the evil genius in the shadows that nobody ever sees leave his lair? This represents a effective way to work, in fact."
Business Interests
Controversy over his corporate affiliations followed him throughout his time as VP. While he had limited background in corporate affairs but good contacts in security, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial energy companies, in 1995 as leader and top executive.
In 2000 he became Bush's running mate for the White House. Debatably, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was awarded US agreements worth billions.
It greatly increased his wealth. His yearly compensation during his period at the corporation rose from his quarter-million dollars when he was defence secretary to over four million. When he departed in 2000 he had a compensation package totaling more than $20m|twenty
