The former US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who has died at the age of 84, was seen as arguably the most powerful holders of the vice-presidency in the nation's history. Whereas countless VPs were limited to minor or symbolic functions, Cheney held substantial influence during the administration of George W Bush, to the point that he was often described as the "real president".
Bush objected to this portrayal and claimed the dynamic was more nuanced. He observed that Cheney was courteous, invariably addressing him in public settings as Mr President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush questioned even characterisations of their relationship as a partnership because it implied that they were equals. Regardless of these objections, Cheney viewed the laidback president pliable on a whole raft of administrative determinations.
The Period Following the Attacks
In charge of a faction of neo-conservatives that encompassed military head Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the military intervention of Iraq in 2003 in reaction to the September 11th attacks on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been participating in a session at a elementary school in Florida. While Bush traveled to a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, commanding the downing of any non-communicating planes heading toward the Capitol building.
Cheney claimed the attacks changed him, causing him to be intent on revenge. Along with other conservative figures, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a occupation of Afghanistan in an attempt to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the invasion of Iraq, although there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein having involvement.
Debated Policies
He voiced no apologies about the invasion, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis perished, and not about the harsh treatment of suspects captured after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was founded on faulty information echoed by Cheney, was the right path to take. "It represented the correct action to do at that time. I believed it at the time and I hold that view now."
Yet even at the time, there were opposing views at a high level about the poor management of Iraq. One of the administration's own special envoys to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the position. "I saw, at a minimum," he wrote later "true dereliction, inaction, and recklessness: potentially, lying, unfitness, and graft."
Additional Factors
Cheney was not entirely accountable for the Iraq invasion. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for similar measures. He had composed a document detailing circumstances in which American interests might be endangered (encompassing "obtaining crucial commodities, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "the United States should be postured to operate alone when joint efforts cannot be orchestrated," particularly citing defense operations against Iraq.
Bush too had arrived in the presidency generally inclined on executing what his father had specifically avoided to do in 1991; topple Saddam. After he had been fired by the White House, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his objective of reducing America's engagement in the regional tensions and mooted military action against Iraq.
Bush held a personal grudge against Saddam, convinced he had been behind a scheme to murder his father, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally disliked that one of the biggest establishments in Baghdad had a floor mural with a likeness of his predecessor's visage that each person had to walk over.
Investigation Approaches
Yet it was Cheney who was among the most vehement behind attacking Iraq, consistently referencing agency briefings that were both insubstantial or completely deceptive. He backed what the Bush White House politely called as "intensive questioning", the employment of simulated drowning and harsh treatment.
Responding to a Senate report in 2014 that determined that no valuable data had been obtained through the interrogation methods, Cheney dismissed the report as "riddled with crap". He informed Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to implement measures and put in place programmes to catch the perpetrators who took the lives of 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it would not recur. That's exactly what they did and they deserve a lot of credit."
Public Persona
Cheney reveled in labels given to him by detractors such as Darth Vader and the sinister presence, and by the concept that he was a dark force controlling Bush. In Peter Baker's 2013 publication about the pair, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is reported as stating: "Is it me who is the evil genius in the shadows that remains unseen emerge from his hole? That is a nice way to operate, actually."
Commercial Ties
Dispute over his corporate affiliations accompanied him through his period as second-in-command. Although he had limited background in corporate affairs but good contacts in military, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial energy conglomerates, in 1995 as chairman and CEO.
In 2000 he became Bush's VP candidate for the presidency. Controversially, during the military campaign, Halliburton was given US deals valued at substantial sums.
It greatly increased his wealth. His yearly compensation during his tenure at the firm increased from his quarter-million dollars when he was Pentagon chief to millions. When he resigned in 2000 he had a package worth over $20m|twenty
