The former US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who has died at the age of 84, was seen as one of the most powerful holders of the vice-presidency in American history. While many second-in-commands were limited to minor or ceremonial positions, Cheney exercised huge power during the administration of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was frequently referred to as the "actual president".
Bush resented this portrayal and claimed the connection was more nuanced. He pointed out that Cheney was courteous, consistently calling him in public as Mr President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush disputed even descriptions of their partnership as a team because it suggested that they were equals. Despite these objections, Cheney considered the relaxed president accommodating on a wide array of policy decisions.
The Post-9/11 Era
In charge of a contingent of neo-cons that encompassed military head Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the invasion of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the September 11th attacks on New York and Washington. During of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been taking part in a gathering at a educational institution in Florida. While Bush made his way to a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney took command, ordering the destruction of any non-communicating planes nearing the US Capitol.
Cheney claimed the strikes changed him, making him become focused on retribution. Together with other conservative figures, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a takeover of Afghanistan in an attempt to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the armed intervention of Iraq, although there was little proof of Saddam Hussein playing a role.
Disputed Policies
He voiced no apologies about the invasion, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, nor about the waterboarding of suspects apprehended after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was founded on misleading information circulated by Cheney, was the right path to take. "It was the correct action to do back then. I believed it then and I maintain that stance today."
However during that period, there were contrary opinions at a high level about the botched execution of Iraq. One of the administration's own delegates to the Middle East, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the role. "I saw, at the very least," he wrote later "clear negligence, carelessness, and recklessness: potentially, deception, unfitness, and graft."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not completely to blame for the Iraq military action. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for such action. He had drafted a document setting out scenarios in which national priorities might be endangered (including "availability of essential resources, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "the US should be postured to act independently when collective action prove impossible," particularly referencing armed actions against Iraq.
Bush additionally had entered the White House generally inclined on carrying out what his parent had specifically avoided to do in 1991; remove Saddam. After he had been fired by the administration, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill disclosed how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his objective of reducing America's engagement in the Middle East dispute and mooted military action against Iraq.
Bush carried a individual resentment against Saddam, convinced he had been responsible for a scheme to assassinate his father, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He also resented that one of the most prominent accommodations in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a image of his father's visage that all visitors had to tread upon.
Questioning Techniques
However it was Cheney who was among the most outspoken supporting invading Iraq, consistently citing intelligence reports that were whether insubstantial or totally misleading. He supported what the Bush government euphemistically referred to as "advanced techniques", the application of interrogation method and torture.
Answering a Senate report in 2014 that concluded that no actionable intelligence had been obtained through the interrogation methods, Cheney dismissed the conclusions as "loaded with crap". He informed Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to establish protocols and establish programmes to capture the bastards who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it never happened again. That is precisely what they did and they deserve a lot of recognition."
Public Persona
Cheney took pleasure in labels given to him by opponents such as the dark character and the dark figure, and by the notion that he was a dark force controlling Bush. In the author's 2013 book about the duo, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is cited as commenting: "Do I represent the evil genius in the shadows that nobody ever sees leave his lair? This represents a advantageous way to work, actually."
Commercial Ties
Controversy over his commercial relationships followed him throughout his time as vice-president. Even though he had limited background in corporate affairs but good contacts in military, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's largest oil and gas corporations, in 1995 as chairman and chief executive.
In 2000 he was selected as Bush's election partner for the executive branch. Debatably, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was granted US contracts valued at multiple billions.
It greatly increased his wealth. His yearly compensation during his tenure at the corporation increased from his $258,394 during his time as Pentagon chief to over four million. When he departed in 2000 he had a compensation package worth over $20m|twenty
