The late US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who has died at age 84, was considered one of the most influential occupants of that office in the nation's history. Although numerous VPs were confined to marginal or ceremonial functions, Cheney held huge power during the presidency of George W Bush, to the point that he was commonly described as the "real president".
Bush resented that description and said the dynamic was more complicated. He observed that Cheney was respectful, always referring to him in public as Mr President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush challenged even characterisations of their relationship as a partnership because it implied that they were equals. In spite of these denials, Cheney viewed the laidback president pliable on a broad range of administrative determinations.
A Post-9/11 Era
At the head of a faction of conservative hawks that encompassed military head Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the military intervention of Iraq in 2003 in response to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 assault, Bush had been participating in a gathering at a educational institution in Florida. While Bush headed for a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, directing the destruction of any non-communicating aircraft heading toward the US Capitol.
Cheney claimed the attacks changed him, making him become determined on retaliation. In conjunction with other neo-conservatives, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a occupation of Afghanistan in an endeavor to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then pressed fiercely for the armed intervention of Iraq, although there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Debated Policies
He voiced no apologies about the invasion, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis died, or about the harsh treatment of suspects rounded up after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was founded on faulty reports circulated by Cheney, was the correct path to take. "It proved to be the proper decision to do then. I had faith then and I hold that view presently."
But even then, there were opposing views at a high level about the poor management of Iraq. One of the government's own representatives to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the post. "I saw, at the very least," he wrote later "obvious failure, inaction, and unaccountability: in the worst case, falsehoods, incompetence, and corruption."
Additional Factors
Cheney was not entirely responsible for the Iraq invasion. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for comparable steps. He had written a memorandum detailing circumstances in which American interests might be endangered (including "access to vital raw materials, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "the US should be positioned to act independently when collective action prove impossible," particularly citing defense operations against Iraq.
Bush too had assumed the Oval Office vaguely intent on implementing what his predecessor had specifically avoided to do in 1991; topple Saddam. Subsequent to he had been dismissed by the president, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had announced his objective of diminishing America's participation in the regional tensions and suggested military action against Iraq.
Bush bore a personal grudge against Saddam, convinced he had been behind a conspiracy to assassinate his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He also objected to that one of the largest hotels in Baghdad had a ground design with a portrait of his predecessor's countenance that each person had to walk over.
Investigation Approaches
Yet it was Cheney who was part of the most vociferous advocating striking Iraq, repeatedly quoting agency briefings that were both weak or totally deceptive. He backed what the Bush administration indirectly described as "enhanced interrogation", the application of interrogation method and harsh treatment.
Responding to a Senate analysis in 2014 that found that no actionable intelligence had come from the torture, Cheney rejected the findings as "loaded with crap". He told Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to establish protocols and put in place procedures to capture the bastards who took the lives of 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it never happened again. That is precisely what they did and they deserve a lot of praise."
External Perception
Cheney reveled in labels imposed on him by critics such as the dark character and The Prince of Darkness, and by the concept that he was a dark force controlling Bush. In the journalist's 2013 book about the two, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is quoted as saying: "Do I represent the sinister strategist in the shadows that operates invisibly leave his hole? This represents a nice way to function, in fact."
Business Interests
Debate over his business interests pursued him during his tenure as vice-president. While he had little experience in commerce but good contacts in security, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's biggest oil and gas corporations, in 1995 as chairman and top executive.
In 2000 he became Bush's election partner for the executive branch. Debatably, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was awarded US deals valued at multiple billions.
It significantly boosted his finances. His yearly earnings during his tenure at the company grew from his previous salary when he was military head to millions. When he resigned in 2000 he had a severance arrangement valued at in excess of $20m|twenty
