The former US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who has died at the age of 84, was seen as arguably the most powerful incumbents of that position in US history. Whereas many vice-presidents were limited to peripheral or symbolic roles, Cheney held huge sway during the term of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was frequently described as the "true president".
Bush objected to such a characterisation and said the connection was more complicated. He pointed out that Cheney was courteous, invariably calling him in public as Mr President, while he called him as Dick. Bush challenged even descriptions of their relationship as a team because it implied that they were equals. Despite these denials, Cheney viewed the relaxed president pliable on a wide array of policy decisions.
A Period Following the Attacks
At the head of a faction of neo-cons that featured military head Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the invasion of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. During of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been attending a meeting at a elementary school in Florida. While Bush headed for a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, commanding the downing of any unresponsive aircraft nearing the US Capitol.
Cheney stated the attacks transformed him, making him become intent on revenge. In conjunction with other conservative figures, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a invasion of Afghanistan in an attempt to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the armed intervention of Iraq, although there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Debated Actions
He voiced no apologies about the invasion, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, nor about the enhanced interrogation of individuals captured after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was predicated on inaccurate information echoed by Cheney, was the right decision. "It was the proper decision to do back then. I believed it at the time and I believe it now."
Yet during that period, there were opposing views at a senior level about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the administration's own special envoys to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the role. "I saw, at a minimum," he subsequently stated "clear negligence, carelessness, and recklessness: in the worst case, lying, incompetence, and graft."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not solely to blame for the Iraq campaign. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for such action. He had written a memorandum detailing scenarios in which US concerns might be threatened (including "obtaining essential resources, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "America should be positioned to operate alone when cooperative measures cannot be arranged," specifically mentioning armed actions against Iraq.
Bush also had arrived in the presidency generally inclined on carrying out what his predecessor had famously refused to do in 1991; remove Saddam. After he had been sacked by the administration, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the first meeting of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his objective of reducing America's participation in the regional tensions and suggested armed intervention against Iraq.
Bush bore a personal grudge against Saddam, convinced he had been responsible for a conspiracy to assassinate his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He also resented that one of the most prominent establishments in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a image of his parent's face that all visitors had to step on.
Investigation Approaches
However it was Cheney who was among the most vehement supporting invading Iraq, repeatedly citing agency briefings that were whether weak or entirely misleading. He backed what the Bush government indirectly described as "intensive questioning", the application of interrogation method and harsh treatment.
Responding to a Senate document in 2014 that found that no actionable intelligence had come from the interrogation methods, Cheney rejected the report as "riddled with crap". He stated to Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to implement measures and put in place initiatives to catch the individuals who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it would not recur. That's exactly what they did and they deserve a lot of praise."
External Perception
Cheney took pleasure in labels assigned to him by critics such as Darth Vader and The Prince of Darkness, and by the idea that he was a sinister influence controlling Bush. In the author's 2013 volume about the pair, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is cited as commenting: "Am I the sinister strategist in the background that remains unseen leave his lair? This represents a nice way to operate, actually."
Commercial Ties
Debate over his commercial relationships pursued him during his tenure as VP. Even though he had little experience in business but good contacts in security, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's biggest petroleum conglomerates, in 1995 as chairman and chief executive.
In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's VP candidate for the executive branch. Controversially, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was given US agreements worth billions.
It significantly boosted his finances. His yearly compensation during his period at the company increased from his previous salary when he was Pentagon chief to $4.4m. When he left in 2000 he had a compensation package totaling over $20m|twenty
