The late US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who has died at age 84, was seen as among the most powerful incumbents of the vice-presidency in US history. While numerous second-in-commands were limited to marginal or symbolic positions, Cheney exercised huge power during the administration of George W Bush, to the point that he was frequently called as the "actual president".
Bush disliked that description and said the dynamic was more nuanced. He pointed out that Cheney was deferential, consistently addressing him in public as Mr President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush challenged even characterisations of their association as a collaboration because it implied that they were equals. In spite of such protestations, Cheney found the laidback president pliable on a wide array of administrative determinations.
A Post-9/11 Era
At the head of a group of neo-cons that encompassed defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the September 11th attacks on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 assault, Bush had been taking part in a session at a school in Florida. Whereas Bush headed for a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, ordering the shooting down of any non-communicating aircraft heading toward the US Capitol.
Cheney said the attacks changed him, making him become determined on retaliation. Along with other neo-cons, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a invasion of Afghanistan in an endeavor to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the invasion of Iraq, although there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein having involvement.
Controversial Policies
He expressed no regrets about the armed intervention, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, and not about the waterboarding of detainees apprehended after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was predicated on inaccurate intelligence echoed by Cheney, was the right path to take. "It represented the proper decision to do at that time. I was convinced at the time and I believe it today."
But even at the time, there were opposing views at a senior 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 post. "I saw, at a minimum," he wrote later "obvious failure, negligence, and unaccountability: potentially, falsehoods, unfitness, and graft."
Broader Context
Cheney was not entirely to blame for the Iraq invasion. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for similar measures. He had composed a document detailing situations in which American interests might be threatened (including "availability of crucial commodities, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "the United States should be prepared to act independently when cooperative measures cannot be orchestrated," particularly citing armed actions against Iraq.
Bush additionally had entered the White House vaguely intent on carrying out what his predecessor had specifically avoided to do in 1991; overthrow 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 stated his intention of reducing America's involvement in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and mooted armed intervention against Iraq.
Bush held a private grievance against Saddam, thinking he had been responsible for a scheme to kill his parent, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He also disliked that one of the largest accommodations in Baghdad had a floor mural with a portrait of his father's countenance that everyone had to tread upon.
Investigation Approaches
Yet it was Cheney who was part of the most vehement advocating attacking Iraq, repeatedly quoting agency briefings that were whether thin or totally misleading. He supported what the Bush government indirectly described as "intensive questioning", the use of waterboarding and harsh treatment.
Responding to a Senate analysis in 2014 that determined that no valuable data had been obtained through the torture, Cheney disregarded the conclusions as "riddled with crap". He stated to Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to take steps and establish initiatives to apprehend the bastards who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it never happened again. That was specifically what they did and they merit a lot of credit."
External Perception
Cheney took pleasure in monikers imposed on him by detractors such as Darth Vader and The Prince of Darkness, and by the notion that he was a sinister influence directing Bush. In the journalist'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 sinister strategist in the background that operates invisibly come out of his domain? That is a nice way to operate, in fact."
Commercial Ties
Dispute over his business interests pursued him during his tenure as VP. While he had little experience in corporate affairs but established relationships in security, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's largest petroleum companies, in 1995 as chair and chief executive.
In 2000 he became Bush's running mate for the presidency. Contentiously, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was awarded US deals valued at multiple billions.
It made him rich. His yearly earnings during his tenure at the company grew from his $258,394 when he was military head to millions. When he resigned in 2000 he had a compensation package valued at more than $20m|twenty
