The late US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who has died at age 84, was seen as arguably the most significant incumbents of that office in US history. Although many VPs were limited to peripheral or ceremonial functions, Cheney held substantial power during the administration of George W Bush, to the point that he was frequently called as the "real president".
Bush disliked this portrayal and said the dynamic was more complex. He noted that Cheney was respectful, consistently calling him in public as Mr President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush questioned even portrayals of their partnership as a collaboration because it indicated that they were on equal footing. Regardless of such protestations, Cheney viewed the relaxed president accommodating on a broad range of policy decisions.
The Aftermath of 9/11
At the head of a contingent of neo-cons that featured Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the invasion 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 participating in a gathering at a educational institution in Florida. As Bush made his way to a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney took command, directing the shooting down of any non-communicating aircraft heading toward the Capitol building.
Cheney claimed the assaults changed him, leading him to become intent on revenge. Together with other conservative figures, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a invasion of Afghanistan in an endeavor to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then pressed fiercely for the invasion of Iraq, though there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein playing a role.
Debated Policies
He voiced no apologies about the invasion, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis died, nor about the harsh treatment of detainees captured after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was based on misleading information repeated by Cheney, was the proper path to take. "It was the correct action to do then. I had faith back then and I believe it presently."
However even then, there were opposing views at a high level about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the White House's own representatives to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the post. "I witnessed, at a minimum," he subsequently stated "clear negligence, inaction, and irresponsibility: in the worst case, lying, unfitness, and graft."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not solely accountable for the Iraq military action. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for comparable steps. He had drafted a memorandum detailing situations in which US concerns might be threatened (including "access to essential resources, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "the US should be postured to operate alone when cooperative measures cannot be orchestrated," specifically citing military moves against Iraq.
Bush also had arrived in the White House somewhat determined on implementing what his parent had famously refused to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. After he had been sacked by the White House, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill disclosed how, at the first meeting of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had announced his intention of lowering America's involvement in the Middle East dispute and proposed defense operations against Iraq.
Bush held a personal grudge against Saddam, convinced he had been behind a plot to murder his father, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore objected to that one of the most prominent hotels in Baghdad had a ground design with a portrait of his predecessor's visage that everyone had to step on.
Questioning Techniques
However it was Cheney who was among the most vehement behind striking Iraq, consistently quoting agency briefings that were whether insubstantial or totally inaccurate. He endorsed what the Bush White House indirectly described as "intensive questioning", the application of simulated drowning and harsh treatment.
Responding to a Senate document in 2014 that concluded that no actionable intelligence had come from the interrogation methods, Cheney disregarded the report as "riddled with crap". He stated to Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to establish protocols and create procedures to capture the perpetrators who took the lives of 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it was not repeated. That was specifically what they did and they merit a lot of recognition."
External Perception
Cheney enjoyed labels imposed on him by opponents such as the dark character and The Prince of Darkness, and by the notion that he was a sinister influence controlling 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: "Is it me who is the evil genius in the corner that operates invisibly leave his hole? This represents a advantageous way to work, truthfully."
Business Interests
Controversy over his business interests pursued him during his tenure as vice-president. Although he had limited background in corporate affairs but strong connections in military, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial petroleum companies, in 1995 as chair and top executive.
In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's election partner for the executive branch. Contentiously, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was granted US contracts totaling billions.
It greatly increased his wealth. His yearly earnings during his tenure at the firm grew from his $258,394 when he was Pentagon chief to over four million. When he departed in 2000 he had a package totaling over $20m|twenty
