The deceased US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who has died at age 84, was seen as among the most significant holders of that position in American history. Whereas numerous vice-presidents had to settle for minor or ceremonial roles, Cheney held substantial influence during the presidency of George W Bush, so much so that he was commonly described as the "actual president".
Bush disliked that description and claimed the connection was more nuanced. He noted that Cheney was deferential, invariably addressing him in public as the President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush disputed even portrayals of their partnership as a partnership because it suggested that they were equals. Regardless of such protestations, Cheney considered the laidback president malleable on a broad range of policy decisions.
The Post-9/11 Era
In charge of a group of conservative hawks that encompassed defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in reaction to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. At the time of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been attending a session at a elementary school in Florida. As Bush headed for a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, directing the shooting down of any non-communicating aircraft nearing the US Capitol.
Cheney said the assaults changed him, causing him to be intent on retribution. Together with other neo-conservatives, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a occupation of Afghanistan in an endeavor to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the armed intervention of Iraq, although there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein having involvement.
Disputed Decisions
He showed no remorse about the military campaign, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, nor about the enhanced interrogation of individuals apprehended after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was founded on inaccurate information repeated by Cheney, was the correct path to take. "It proved to be the proper decision to do then. I believed it then and I believe it now."
But even at the time, there were contrary opinions at a top tier about the botched execution of Iraq. One of the government's own special envoys to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the role. "I observed, as a baseline," he later wrote "clear negligence, negligence, and irresponsibility: potentially, deception, ineptitude, and graft."
Additional Factors
Cheney was not solely accountable for the Iraq military action. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for comparable steps. He had drafted a document setting out scenarios in which national priorities might be endangered (including "availability of crucial commodities, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "America should be prepared to take unilateral action when collective action prove impossible," particularly referencing armed actions against Iraq.
Bush additionally had arrived in the White House somewhat determined on implementing what his parent had famously refused to do in 1991; topple Saddam. After he had been sacked by the administration, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his plan of reducing America's participation in the Middle East dispute and mooted armed intervention against Iraq.
Bush bore a personal grudge against Saddam, convinced he had been responsible for a plot to kill his parent, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He also disliked that one of the most prominent establishments in Baghdad had a ground design with a likeness of his predecessor's countenance that each person had to walk over.
Interrogation Methods
But it was Cheney who was part of the most vociferous advocating striking Iraq, consistently citing information documents that were either thin or totally deceptive. He supported what the Bush White House politely called as "intensive questioning", the employment of simulated drowning and torture.
Answering a Senate analysis in 2014 that determined that no actionable intelligence had resulted from the interrogation methods, Cheney rejected the conclusions as "riddled with crap". He informed Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to implement measures and put in place initiatives to apprehend the bastards who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it was not repeated. That was specifically what they did and they deserve a lot of praise."
Public Persona
Cheney reveled in monikers given to him by critics such as the Star Wars villain and the dark figure, and by the idea that he was a shadow power manipulating Bush. In Peter Baker's 2013 publication about the pair, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is quoted as saying: "Is it me who is the malevolent mastermind in the corner that nobody ever sees come out of his hole? It's a nice way to work, actually."
Corporate Connections
Controversy over his corporate affiliations accompanied him through his period as vice-president. While he had minimal expertise in corporate affairs but good contacts in military, 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 chief executive.
In 2000 he became Bush's running mate for the executive branch. Contentiously, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was given US contracts valued at billions.
It greatly increased his wealth. His annual income during his period at the corporation grew from his $258,394 when he was defence secretary to millions. When he departed in 2000 he had a package totaling more than $20m|twenty
