The former US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who has died at age 84, was regarded as one of the most influential occupants of that position in US history. Although countless VPs were confined to marginal or symbolic positions, Cheney wielded enormous influence during the term of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was commonly referred to as the "actual president".
Bush objected to this portrayal and claimed the relationship was more complex. He noted that Cheney was respectful, invariably addressing him in public settings as the President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush disputed even portrayals of their relationship as a collaboration because it implied that they were peers. Regardless of these denials, Cheney viewed the easygoing president accommodating on a broad range of administrative determinations.
The Post-9/11 Era
Leading of a faction of conservative hawks that featured defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in response to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. At the time of the 9/11 strike, Bush had been participating in a session at a elementary school in Florida. Whereas Bush headed for a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, directing the destruction of any non-communicating aircraft nearing the US Capitol.
Cheney claimed the attacks transformed him, causing him to be intent on retaliation. Together with other neo-conservatives, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a invasion of Afghanistan in an attempt to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the military action of Iraq, though there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein having involvement.
Disputed Actions
He showed no remorse about the invasion, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis died, or about the waterboarding of detainees captured after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was predicated on inaccurate reports echoed by Cheney, was the right course of action. "It represented the correct action to do then. I was convinced then and I maintain that stance today."
However even then, there were dissenting voices at a high level about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the government's own representatives to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the position. "I observed, at a minimum," he wrote later "true dereliction, carelessness, and unaccountability: in the worst case, lying, ineptitude, and graft."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not solely accountable for the Iraq military action. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for similar measures. He had composed a memorandum setting out circumstances in which national priorities might be threatened (including "availability of essential resources, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "the United States should be prepared to operate alone when collective action prove impossible," specifically citing armed actions against Iraq.
Bush also had arrived in the White House generally inclined on executing what his parent had specifically avoided to do in 1991; topple Saddam. After he had been sacked by the White House, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had announced his objective of reducing America's engagement in the regional tensions and proposed military action against Iraq.
Bush carried a personal grudge against Saddam, convinced he had been behind a conspiracy to assassinate his parent, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally objected to that one of the most prominent hotels in Baghdad had a floor mural with a image of his parent's countenance that all visitors had to step on.
Interrogation Methods
However it was Cheney who was among the most vehement advocating attacking Iraq, repeatedly referencing intelligence reports that were whether insubstantial or totally misleading. He supported what the Bush administration politely called as "enhanced interrogation", the employment of simulated drowning and harsh treatment.
Answering a Senate report in 2014 that found that no actionable intelligence had been obtained through the harsh techniques, Cheney dismissed the conclusions as "loaded with crap". He told Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to implement measures and create programmes to catch the perpetrators who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it was not repeated. That's exactly what they did and they merit a lot of credit."
Public Persona
Cheney took pleasure in labels imposed on him by opponents such as Darth Vader and the dark figure, and by the concept that he was a shadow power controlling Bush. In the author's 2013 publication about the duo, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is reported as stating: "Am I the sinister strategist in the background that operates invisibly leave his lair? That is a effective way to operate, in fact."
Business Interests
Dispute over his commercial relationships followed him through his period as second-in-command. Even though he had minimal expertise in commerce but established relationships in defence, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's biggest petroleum companies, in 1995 as chairman and chief executive.
In 2000 he was selected as Bush's running mate for the presidency. Controversially, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was given US deals valued at substantial sums.
It made him rich. His yearly earnings during his tenure at the firm grew from his $258,394 during his time as Pentagon chief to over four million. When he departed in 2000 he had a severance arrangement worth over $20m|twenty
