The former US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who has died at age 84, was seen as among the most powerful occupants of the vice-presidency in American history. While numerous VPs were limited to peripheral or ceremonial roles, Cheney exercised huge power during the administration of George W Bush, to the point that he was often described as the "actual president".
Bush objected to such a characterisation and said the relationship was more complex. He noted that Cheney was respectful, consistently referring to him in public settings as Mr President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush challenged even portrayals of their partnership as a team because it indicated that they were equals. In spite of these denials, Cheney considered the relaxed president accommodating on a broad range of governmental choices.
The Aftermath of 9/11
In charge of a group of conservative hawks that featured military head Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the military intervention of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 strike, Bush had been taking part in a meeting at a educational institution in Florida. As Bush traveled to a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, commanding the shooting down of any unresponsive aircraft approaching the government building.
Cheney stated the assaults transformed him, leading him to become intent on retaliation. Along with other neo-cons, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a takeover of Afghanistan in an endeavor to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the armed intervention of Iraq, though there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein playing a role.
Disputed Policies
He expressed no regrets about the armed intervention, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, or about the waterboarding of detainees apprehended after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was predicated on faulty intelligence repeated by Cheney, was the correct path to take. "It was the correct action to do back then. I was convinced back then and I maintain that stance today."
However during that period, there were contrary opinions at a high level about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the government's own special envoys to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the post. "I saw, as a baseline," he subsequently stated "obvious failure, carelessness, and recklessness: in the worst case, falsehoods, ineptitude, and corruption."
Broader Context
Cheney was not solely accountable for the Iraq campaign. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for similar measures. He had drafted a document setting out situations in which national priorities might be threatened (encompassing "obtaining crucial commodities, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "the United States should be positioned to take unilateral action when joint efforts cannot be arranged," specifically citing military moves against Iraq.
Bush too had arrived in the presidency generally inclined on carrying out what his parent had famously refused to do in 1991; remove Saddam. After he had been fired by the White House, the finance chief Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had announced his intention of diminishing America's participation in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and mooted armed intervention against Iraq.
Bush carried a personal grudge against Saddam, thinking he had been responsible for a scheme to assassinate his father, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He also disliked that one of the most prominent accommodations in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a image of his parent's visage that each person had to tread upon.
Questioning Techniques
But it was Cheney who was among the most vehement behind invading Iraq, repeatedly referencing agency briefings that were both thin or entirely deceptive. He supported what the Bush administration indirectly described as "enhanced interrogation", the use of simulated drowning and harsh treatment.
Responding to a Senate report in 2014 that determined that no valuable data had resulted from the torture, Cheney rejected the findings as "riddled with crap". He informed Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to implement measures and establish initiatives to catch the bastards who took the lives of 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it would not recur. That is precisely what they did and they merit a lot of credit."
Public Persona
Cheney reveled in nicknames given to him by detractors such as the Star Wars villain and The Prince of Darkness, and by the idea that he was a dark force manipulating Bush. In the author's 2013 book about the pair, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is quoted as saying: "Do I represent the malevolent mastermind in the corner that nobody ever sees come out of his lair? It's a advantageous way to operate, in fact."
Corporate Connections
Dispute over his corporate affiliations followed him through his period as VP. Even though he had little experience in business but strong connections in security, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial petroleum corporations, in 1995 as leader and chief executive.
In 2000 he became Bush's election partner for the executive branch. Contentiously, during the military campaign, Halliburton was awarded US agreements totaling substantial sums.
It made him rich. His annual income during his time at the corporation grew from his $258,394 when he was military head to over four million. When he left in 2000 he had a package valued at over $20m|twenty
