The late US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who has died at age 84, was regarded as one of the most powerful occupants of that office in US history. Whereas many vice-presidents were limited to marginal or symbolic functions, Cheney exercised enormous power during the administration of George W Bush, to the point that he was commonly referred to as the "true president".
Bush objected to this portrayal and claimed the relationship was more nuanced. He noted that Cheney was deferential, always addressing him in public settings as the President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush questioned even descriptions of their relationship as a team because it suggested that they were equals. Regardless of such protestations, Cheney considered the laidback president pliable on a broad range of governmental choices.
A Post-9/11 Era
Leading of a contingent of neo-conservatives that featured Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the invasion of Iraq in 2003 in reaction to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. At the time of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been attending a gathering at a educational institution in Florida. While Bush made his way to a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, commanding the shooting down of any unidentified aircraft nearing the US Capitol.
Cheney claimed the attacks altered his perspective, leading him to become intent on retaliation. Together with other conservative figures, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a occupation of Afghanistan in an endeavor to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the invasion of Iraq, though there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Disputed Policies
He voiced no apologies about the armed intervention, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis died, or about the enhanced interrogation of detainees captured after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was based on faulty intelligence circulated by Cheney, was the proper path to take. "It was the proper decision to do then. I was convinced at the time and I maintain that stance presently."
But even then, there were opposing views 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 retained from the position. "I witnessed, at the very least," he subsequently stated "true dereliction, carelessness, and unaccountability: potentially, deception, incompetence, and graft."
Broader Context
Cheney was not solely to blame for the Iraq military action. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for such action. He had composed a document outlining circumstances in which American interests might be endangered (encompassing "obtaining vital raw materials, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "the US should be postured to operate alone when joint efforts prove impossible," particularly referencing military moves against Iraq.
Bush also had arrived in the Oval Office somewhat determined on executing what his predecessor had famously refused to do in 1991; remove Saddam. Following he had been sacked by the administration, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his plan of diminishing America's involvement in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and proposed military action against Iraq.
Bush carried a private grievance against Saddam, convinced he had been responsible for a scheme to kill his father, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally objected to that one of the most prominent accommodations in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a image of his father's countenance that everyone had to step on.
Interrogation Methods
But it was Cheney who was among the most vociferous behind striking Iraq, repeatedly quoting intelligence reports that were both thin or completely misleading. He backed what the Bush administration politely called as "advanced techniques", the employment of simulated drowning and physical pressure.
Addressing a Senate document in 2014 that found that no valuable data had been obtained through the harsh techniques, Cheney dismissed the report as "loaded with crap". He told Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to establish protocols and put in place procedures to catch the perpetrators who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it would not recur. That was specifically what they did and they earn a lot of praise."
Public Image
Cheney took pleasure in monikers assigned to him by detractors such as Darth Vader and the sinister presence, and by the idea that he was a sinister influence controlling Bush. In the journalist's 2013 volume about the pair, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is quoted as saying: "Do I represent the sinister strategist in the background that operates invisibly leave his hole? It's a nice way to function, truthfully."
Commercial Ties
Dispute over his corporate affiliations accompanied him through his period as second-in-command. Even though he had minimal expertise in corporate affairs but established relationships in military, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's largest petroleum companies, in 1995 as leader and CEO.
In 2000 he was selected as Bush's election partner for the executive branch. Controversially, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was given US contracts totaling billions.
It made him rich. His yearly earnings during his tenure at the corporation grew from his $258,394 while defence secretary to $4.4m. When he left in 2000 he had a compensation package valued at in excess of $20m|twenty
