The former US VP Dick Cheney, who has died at age 84, was seen as among the most influential incumbents of that position in US history. Whereas many second-in-commands had to settle for marginal or symbolic positions, Cheney wielded substantial sway during the presidency of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was often described as the "actual president".
Bush objected to such a characterisation and stated the dynamic was more complex. He pointed out that Cheney was deferential, always calling him in public as Mr President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush challenged even descriptions of their relationship as a team because it suggested that they were equals. Despite these denials, Cheney viewed the relaxed president accommodating on a wide array of policy decisions.
A Aftermath of 9/11
In charge of a contingent of conservative hawks that included Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the military intervention of Iraq in 2003 in reaction to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 assault, Bush had been attending a session at a school in Florida. As Bush headed for a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney took command, directing the shooting down of any unresponsive planes approaching the Capitol building.
Cheney claimed the attacks changed him, making him become determined on revenge. Along with other neo-cons, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a invasion of Afghanistan in an effort to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the military action of Iraq, though there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein playing a role.
Debated Actions
He expressed no regrets about the invasion, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, nor about the enhanced interrogation of suspects captured 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 course of action. "It proved to be the right thing to do then. I had faith then and I hold that view today."
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 region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the post. "I saw, as a baseline," he subsequently stated "true dereliction, carelessness, and recklessness: potentially, lying, incompetence, and dishonesty."
Additional Factors
Cheney was not completely accountable for the Iraq military action. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for similar measures. He had written a memorandum outlining situations in which American interests might be threatened (including "obtaining crucial commodities, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "America should be postured to take unilateral action when collective action prove impossible," particularly referencing armed actions against Iraq.
Bush also had arrived in the White House somewhat determined on implementing what his father had famously refused to do in 1991; topple Saddam. Subsequent to he had been dismissed by the administration, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his plan of reducing America's engagement in the Middle East dispute and proposed defense operations against Iraq.
Bush held a personal grudge against Saddam, thinking he had been behind a plot to kill his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore resented that one of the most prominent accommodations in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a image of his parent's face that everyone had to step on.
Investigation Approaches
Yet it was Cheney who was part of the most vehement supporting attacking Iraq, frequently quoting intelligence reports that were whether thin or totally deceptive. He backed what the Bush White House euphemistically referred to as "intensive questioning", the employment of simulated drowning and torture.
Addressing a Senate report in 2014 that found that no actionable intelligence had been obtained through the interrogation methods, Cheney dismissed the findings as "full of crap". He informed Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to implement measures and put in place programmes to apprehend the bastards who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it would not recur. That was specifically what they did and they earn a lot of praise."
Public Persona
Cheney reveled in monikers imposed on him by critics such as Darth Vader and the dark figure, and by the concept that he was a dark force controlling Bush. In the author's 2013 book about the pair, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is quoted as saying: "Do I represent the malevolent mastermind in the background that nobody ever sees emerge from his lair? It's a effective way to function, truthfully."
Business Interests
Controversy over his business interests followed him during his tenure as second-in-command. Even though he had little experience in commerce but good contacts in military, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial energy conglomerates, in 1995 as leader and chief executive.
In 2000 he became Bush's VP candidate for the White House. Controversially, during the military campaign, Halliburton was awarded US deals valued at substantial sums.
It greatly increased his wealth. His yearly compensation during his tenure at the company rose from his previous salary while military head to $4.4m. When he left in 2000 he had a severance arrangement worth more than $20m|twenty
