The former US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who has died at the age of 84, was seen as among the most influential holders of the vice-presidency in American history. Whereas many VPs were confined to marginal or figurehead functions, Cheney exercised huge sway during the term of George W Bush, so much so that he was frequently described as the "true president".
Bush resented such a characterisation and said the connection was more complex. He pointed out that Cheney was respectful, always addressing him in official appearances as President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush disputed even characterisations of their relationship as a team because it indicated that they were equals. In spite of these denials, Cheney viewed the easygoing president pliable on a whole raft of governmental choices.
The Period Following the Attacks
Leading of a faction of neo-cons that featured defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the invasion of Iraq in 2003 in response to the September 11th attacks on New York and Washington. During of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been participating in a gathering at a educational institution in Florida. While Bush traveled to a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, directing the shooting down of any non-communicating aircraft approaching the government building.
Cheney said the assaults altered his perspective, leading him to become determined on retribution. In conjunction with other conservative figures, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a occupation of Afghanistan in an attempt to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then pressed fiercely for the invasion of Iraq, although there was little proof of Saddam Hussein having involvement.
Controversial Decisions
He voiced no apologies about the military campaign, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis perished, or about the harsh treatment of suspects apprehended after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was based on inaccurate information circulated by Cheney, was the proper decision. "It represented the correct action to do then. I was convinced at the time and I believe it today."
However even then, there were contrary opinions at a high level about the poor management of Iraq. One of the administration's own special envoys to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the post. "I witnessed, at the very least," he wrote later "true dereliction, negligence, and unaccountability: at worst, falsehoods, unfitness, and graft."
Additional Factors
Cheney was not entirely accountable for the Iraq campaign. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for such action. He had drafted a document outlining situations in which national priorities might be threatened (featuring "access to vital raw materials, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "the United States should be positioned to take unilateral action when cooperative measures cannot be arranged," particularly referencing defense operations against Iraq.
Bush also had arrived in the Oval Office generally inclined on executing what his father had famously refused to do in 1991; remove Saddam. Following he had been dismissed by the administration, the finance chief Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had announced his objective of lowering America's participation in the Middle East dispute and mooted armed intervention against Iraq.
Bush bore a personal grudge against Saddam, believing he had been involved in a plot to assassinate his parent, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore disliked that one of the biggest establishments in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a portrait of his father's countenance that everyone had to tread upon.
Questioning Techniques
Yet it was Cheney who was part of the most outspoken behind striking Iraq, consistently citing intelligence reports that were either insubstantial or entirely misleading. He endorsed what the Bush White House euphemistically referred to as "advanced techniques", the use of waterboarding and torture.
Responding to a Senate report in 2014 that concluded that no useful information had come from the torture, Cheney disregarded the findings as "loaded with crap". He told Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to implement measures and put in place procedures to catch the individuals who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it never happened again. That was specifically what they did and they deserve a lot of recognition."
External Perception
Cheney took pleasure in monikers imposed on him by critics such as the Star Wars villain and the sinister presence, and by the notion that he was a sinister influence manipulating Bush. In the author's 2013 publication about the pair, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is reported as stating: "Do I represent the evil genius in the shadows that remains unseen come out of his hole? That is a effective way to work, actually."
Corporate Connections
Dispute over his commercial relationships followed him throughout his time as VP. While he had little experience in corporate affairs but good contacts in security, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's biggest petroleum companies, in 1995 as leader and CEO.
In 2000 he became Bush's VP candidate for the White House. Debatably, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was granted US contracts totaling billions.
It significantly boosted his finances. His yearly earnings during his tenure at the firm rose from his previous salary while military head to millions. When he left in 2000 he had a package worth over $20m|twenty
