The former US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who has died at the age of 84, was considered arguably the most significant occupants of that office in US history. While many vice-presidents had to settle for peripheral or symbolic roles, Cheney held substantial power during the presidency of George W Bush, so much so that he was commonly referred to as the "true president".
Bush resented this portrayal and claimed the connection was more nuanced. He observed that Cheney was deferential, invariably calling him in public settings as the President, while he called him as Dick. Bush disputed even characterisations of their partnership as a team because it suggested that they were on equal footing. Regardless of these denials, Cheney considered the easygoing president malleable on a whole raft of policy decisions.
A Aftermath of 9/11
At the head of a group of neo-conservatives that included Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the invasion of Iraq in 2003 in response to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. During of the 9/11 strike, Bush had been participating in a meeting at a elementary school in Florida. Whereas Bush traveled to a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, commanding the shooting down of any unidentified planes heading toward the government building.
Cheney stated the strikes changed him, making him become focused on retribution. In conjunction with other neo-conservatives, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a invasion of Afghanistan in an endeavor to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the military action of Iraq, though there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein having involvement.
Disputed Decisions
He voiced no apologies about the invasion, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis died, and not about the waterboarding of suspects captured after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was founded on misleading intelligence repeated by Cheney, was the correct decision. "It was the right thing to do back then. I believed it at the time and I maintain that stance now."
Yet during that period, there were contrary opinions at a high level about the botched execution of Iraq. One of the government's own delegates to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the post. "I observed, as a baseline," he wrote later "true dereliction, carelessness, and unaccountability: in the worst case, lying, ineptitude, and dishonesty."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not completely responsible for the Iraq military action. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for similar measures. He had drafted a memorandum setting out circumstances in which US concerns might be compromised (encompassing "availability of essential resources, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "America should be prepared to operate alone when joint efforts prove impossible," particularly mentioning military moves against Iraq.
Bush also had arrived in the Oval Office generally inclined on executing what his father had specifically avoided to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. After he had been fired by the president, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the first meeting of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his plan of reducing America's participation in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and proposed defense operations against Iraq.
Bush carried a private grievance against Saddam, believing he had been behind a plot to murder his father, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore resented that one of the most prominent establishments in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a portrait of his parent's countenance that each person had to step on.
Interrogation Methods
But it was Cheney who was part of the most outspoken behind striking Iraq, frequently quoting information documents that were both weak or entirely misleading. He supported what the Bush government euphemistically referred to as "advanced techniques", the application of waterboarding and physical pressure.
Responding to a Senate analysis in 2014 that found that no actionable intelligence had been obtained through the interrogation methods, Cheney disregarded the findings as "full of crap". He told Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to implement measures and create procedures to catch the perpetrators who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it would not recur. That was specifically what they did and they merit a lot of credit."
Public Image
Cheney enjoyed monikers assigned to him by critics such as the dark character and the sinister presence, and by the notion that he was a shadow power controlling Bush. In Peter Baker's 2013 volume about the two, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is quoted as saying: "Am I the sinister strategist in the background that nobody ever sees emerge from his lair? That is a nice way to work, in fact."
Corporate Connections
Dispute over his corporate affiliations pursued him throughout his time as VP. Although he had little experience in corporate affairs but good contacts in defence, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial energy conglomerates, in 1995 as leader and CEO.
In 2000 he became Bush's election partner for the executive branch. Debatably, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was awarded US contracts valued at multiple billions.
It greatly increased his wealth. His yearly compensation during his period at the company increased from his quarter-million dollars during his time as Pentagon chief to $4.4m. When he resigned in 2000 he had a severance arrangement valued at over $20m|twenty
