The former US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who has died at the age of 84, was regarded as among the most significant incumbents of that position in US history. Whereas numerous vice-presidents had to settle for marginal or symbolic roles, Cheney wielded enormous sway during the term of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was frequently described as the "actual president".
Bush resented such a characterisation and stated the relationship was more nuanced. He pointed out that Cheney was courteous, invariably calling him in public as Mr President, while he called him as Dick. Bush questioned even characterisations of their association as a partnership because it suggested that they were equals. In spite of these objections, Cheney found the laidback president malleable on a wide array of administrative determinations.
The Aftermath of 9/11
At the head of a faction of neo-conservatives that included defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in response to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. At the time of the 9/11 strike, Bush had been taking part in a session at a educational institution in Florida. Whereas Bush made his way to a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, commanding the downing of any non-communicating airplanes heading toward the government building.
Cheney said the strikes changed him, causing him to be intent on retribution. Together with other neo-conservatives, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a takeover of Afghanistan in an endeavor to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the military action of Iraq, even though there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein playing a role.
Debated Policies
He expressed no regrets about the invasion, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis died, or about the harsh treatment of suspects captured after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was founded on faulty intelligence repeated by Cheney, was the correct course of action. "It represented the correct action to do at that time. I was convinced back then and I maintain that stance now."
Yet even then, there were contrary opinions at a high level about the botched execution of Iraq. One of the White House's own representatives to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the position. "I observed, at a minimum," he subsequently stated "clear negligence, negligence, and irresponsibility: potentially, falsehoods, ineptitude, and dishonesty."
Broader Context
Cheney was not entirely responsible for the Iraq invasion. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for such action. He had composed a document setting out situations in which American interests might be endangered (featuring "access to crucial commodities, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "the United States should be positioned to operate alone when joint efforts cannot be orchestrated," specifically mentioning defense operations against Iraq.
Bush too had assumed the White House vaguely intent on implementing what his parent had notably declined to do in 1991; topple Saddam. Subsequent to he had been fired by the president, the finance chief Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the first meeting of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his objective of lowering America's involvement in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and mooted armed intervention against Iraq.
Bush bore a personal grudge against Saddam, convinced he had been responsible for a scheme to kill his parent, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally objected to that one of the largest establishments in Baghdad had a ground design with a portrait of his parent's countenance that everyone had to walk over.
Interrogation Methods
However it was Cheney who was among the most outspoken supporting striking Iraq, repeatedly citing information documents that were both insubstantial or completely misleading. He supported what the Bush White House politely called as "enhanced interrogation", the application of simulated drowning and torture.
Addressing a Senate document in 2014 that found that no actionable intelligence had resulted from the harsh techniques, Cheney rejected the conclusions as "full of crap". He informed Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to take steps and put in place programmes to apprehend the bastards who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it would not recur. That's exactly what they did and they deserve a lot of recognition."
External Perception
Cheney reveled in monikers imposed on him by critics such as the Star Wars villain and the sinister presence, and by the idea that he was a shadow power controlling Bush. In the journalist's 2013 volume about the pair, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is cited as commenting: "Do I represent the sinister strategist in the corner that nobody ever sees emerge from his domain? This represents a effective way to operate, actually."
Commercial Ties
Controversy over his corporate affiliations pursued him throughout his time as VP. Even though he had minimal expertise in business but good contacts in security, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's largest oil and gas conglomerates, in 1995 as chairman and top executive.
In 2000 he was selected as Bush's election partner for the executive branch. Debatably, during the military campaign, Halliburton was given US contracts valued at billions.
It made him rich. His annual income during his tenure at the company rose from his quarter-million dollars when he was military head to millions. When he left in 2000 he had a package totaling over $20m|twenty
