The late US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who has died at age 84, was seen as one of the most influential holders of that position in American history. Whereas numerous vice-presidents were limited to peripheral or figurehead roles, Cheney exercised substantial sway during the presidency of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was frequently called as the "true president".
Bush resented that description and stated the dynamic was more nuanced. He pointed out that Cheney was respectful, invariably addressing him in official appearances as the President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush disputed even descriptions of their relationship as a collaboration because it indicated that they were equals. In spite of such protestations, Cheney found the relaxed president pliable on a broad range of policy decisions.
The Post-9/11 Era
Leading of a faction of neo-cons that included military head Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in response to the September 11th attacks on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 assault, Bush had been taking part in a gathering at a school in Florida. Whereas Bush headed for a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, ordering the destruction of any non-communicating planes heading toward the US Capitol.
Cheney stated the strikes altered his perspective, causing him to be intent on retribution. Along with other neo-conservatives, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a takeover of Afghanistan in an attempt to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then pressed fiercely for the invasion of Iraq, even though there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Controversial Actions
He voiced no apologies about the armed intervention, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis perished, and not about the harsh treatment of detainees apprehended after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was predicated on inaccurate reports circulated by Cheney, was the correct path to take. "It represented the correct action to do then. I was convinced at the time and I believe it today."
But even at the time, there were opposing views at a senior level about the botched execution of Iraq. One of the government's own delegates to the Middle East, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the post. "I witnessed, at a minimum," he wrote later "obvious failure, carelessness, and irresponsibility: potentially, deception, unfitness, and dishonesty."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not completely to blame for the Iraq campaign. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for such action. He had drafted a document detailing situations in which American interests might be compromised (including "access to vital raw materials, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "America should be postured to operate alone when joint efforts cannot be arranged," particularly citing military moves against Iraq.
Bush too had assumed the White House vaguely intent on executing what his father had famously refused to do in 1991; topple Saddam. Subsequent to he had been sacked by the administration, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his objective of diminishing America's participation in the Middle East dispute and suggested defense operations against Iraq.
Bush bore a private grievance against Saddam, believing he had been behind a plot to kill his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He also objected to that one of the most prominent hotels in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a portrait of his parent's countenance that each person had to walk over.
Investigation Approaches
But it was Cheney who was among the most vehement advocating striking Iraq, repeatedly citing information documents that were either insubstantial or totally deceptive. He backed what the Bush White House euphemistically referred to as "enhanced interrogation", the employment of interrogation method and harsh treatment.
Answering a Senate report in 2014 that determined that no useful information had come from the torture, Cheney rejected the report as "loaded with crap". He told Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to implement measures and create procedures to catch the individuals who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it never happened again. That was specifically what they did and they earn a lot of credit."
External Perception
Cheney enjoyed labels imposed on him by opponents such as the dark character and The Prince of Darkness, and by the concept that he was a shadow power manipulating Bush. In the journalist's 2013 publication about the two, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is reported as stating: "Am I the malevolent mastermind in the corner that operates invisibly emerge from his hole? That is a effective way to function, truthfully."
Commercial Ties
Controversy over his corporate affiliations followed him through his period as vice-president. While he had minimal expertise in corporate affairs but strong connections in security, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's biggest petroleum conglomerates, in 1995 as chair and CEO.
In 2000 he was selected as Bush's VP candidate for the White House. Controversially, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was awarded US agreements totaling billions.
It made him rich. His yearly compensation during his period at the company rose from his $258,394 during his time as Pentagon chief to millions. When he departed in 2000 he had a compensation package totaling in excess of $20m|twenty