The late US VP Dick Cheney, who has died at age 84, was seen as arguably the most significant holders of that office in US history. Whereas many second-in-commands had to settle for peripheral or ceremonial functions, Cheney wielded substantial power during the administration of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was commonly called as the "real president".
Bush objected to this portrayal and stated the relationship was more complex. He noted that Cheney was respectful, invariably referring to him in public settings as Mr President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush disputed even portrayals of their partnership as a team because it suggested that they were peers. Regardless of such protestations, Cheney considered the easygoing president accommodating on a wide array of governmental choices.
The Aftermath of 9/11
In charge of a group of neo-conservatives that featured Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the military intervention of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 assault, Bush had been participating in a gathering at a school in Florida. Whereas Bush traveled to a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney took command, commanding the destruction of any non-communicating aircraft nearing the US Capitol.
Cheney said the strikes changed him, causing him to be intent on retaliation. In conjunction with other conservative figures, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a occupation of Afghanistan in an endeavor to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the armed intervention of Iraq, although there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Disputed Policies
He showed no remorse about the military campaign, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis died, or about the waterboarding of individuals apprehended after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was predicated on inaccurate intelligence repeated by Cheney, was the proper path to take. "It was the correct action to do then. I believed it at the time and I maintain that stance presently."
But even at the time, there were dissenting voices at a senior level about the poor management of Iraq. One of the administration's own delegates to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the role. "I witnessed, at the very least," he wrote later "clear negligence, negligence, and unaccountability: potentially, lying, unfitness, and graft."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not solely accountable for the Iraq campaign. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for similar measures. He had written a memorandum detailing situations in which national priorities might be threatened (encompassing "obtaining essential resources, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "America should be positioned to take unilateral action when cooperative measures cannot be arranged," particularly referencing armed actions against Iraq.
Bush too had entered the Oval Office vaguely intent on executing what his parent had famously refused to do in 1991; remove Saddam. Subsequent to 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 announced his intention of diminishing America's involvement in the regional tensions and mooted defense operations against Iraq.
Bush held a private grievance against Saddam, believing he had been responsible for a conspiracy to murder his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He also resented that one of the largest accommodations in Baghdad had a floor mural with a portrait of his predecessor's countenance that each person had to walk over.
Investigation Approaches
However it was Cheney who was one of the most outspoken behind striking Iraq, consistently referencing agency briefings that were whether weak or completely inaccurate. He endorsed what the Bush administration euphemistically referred to as "enhanced interrogation", the employment of simulated drowning and harsh treatment.
Answering a Senate document in 2014 that found that no valuable data had come from the interrogation methods, Cheney rejected the conclusions as "loaded with crap". He informed Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to take steps and create programmes to apprehend the bastards who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it never happened again. That was specifically what they did and they deserve a lot of recognition."
Public Image
Cheney enjoyed labels imposed on him by detractors such as the dark character and the sinister presence, and by the notion that he was a dark force controlling Bush. In the author's 2013 publication about the duo, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is cited as commenting: "Do I represent the evil genius in the corner that remains unseen leave his hole? This represents a effective way to work, actually."
Corporate Connections
Dispute over his business interests followed him through his period as second-in-command. Even though he had little experience in business but established relationships in military, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's biggest energy companies, in 1995 as leader and CEO.
In 2000 he became Bush's election partner for the White House. Debatably, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was granted US deals valued at billions.
It greatly increased his wealth. His yearly compensation during his time at the firm grew from his previous salary while Pentagon chief to millions. When he departed in 2000 he had a compensation package valued at in excess of $20m|twenty
