The former US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who has died at the age of 84, was considered arguably the most significant holders of the vice-presidency in American history. While countless vice-presidents were limited to marginal or figurehead roles, Cheney wielded huge influence during the term of George W Bush, to the point that he was frequently described as the "actual president".
Bush disliked this portrayal and stated the connection was more nuanced. He noted that Cheney was respectful, consistently calling him in public settings as President, while he called him as Dick. Bush questioned even portrayals of their partnership as a partnership because it implied that they were equals. Despite such protestations, Cheney considered the relaxed president pliable on a whole raft of governmental choices.
A Period Following the Attacks
At the head of a group 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 strike, Bush had been taking part in a gathering at a elementary school in Florida. As Bush traveled to a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, directing the shooting down of any unresponsive aircraft nearing the government building.
Cheney claimed the assaults 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 apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the military action of Iraq, although there was little proof of Saddam Hussein playing a role.
Debated Policies
He voiced no apologies about the military campaign, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis died, and not about the enhanced interrogation of individuals apprehended after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was founded on misleading information echoed by Cheney, was the correct decision. "It represented the correct action to do back then. I believed it back then and I maintain that stance today."
However during that period, there were opposing views at a high level about the botched execution of Iraq. One of the government's own special envoys to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the post. "I witnessed, at the very least," he wrote later "true dereliction, inaction, and unaccountability: potentially, deception, unfitness, and dishonesty."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not solely responsible for the Iraq military action. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for comparable steps. He had written a memo setting out situations in which US concerns might be threatened (including "access to crucial commodities, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "the US should be prepared to take unilateral action when cooperative measures prove impossible," particularly referencing defense operations against Iraq.
Bush also had arrived in the White House somewhat determined 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 revealed how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his objective of lowering America's engagement in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and mooted military action against Iraq.
Bush bore a private grievance against Saddam, convinced he had been responsible for a conspiracy to kill his father, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He also resented that one of the biggest accommodations in Baghdad had a floor mural with a portrait of his parent's face that everyone had to step on.
Investigation Approaches
However it was Cheney who was part of the most outspoken advocating invading Iraq, frequently citing agency briefings that were whether weak or entirely misleading. He backed what the Bush government politely called as "advanced techniques", the use of interrogation method and physical pressure.
Responding to a Senate report in 2014 that found that no actionable intelligence had come from the torture, Cheney rejected the report as "full of crap". He informed Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to implement measures and put in place procedures to catch the individuals who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it never happened again. That is precisely what they did and they merit a lot of praise."
Public Image
Cheney reveled in monikers assigned to him by opponents such as the Star Wars villain and The Prince of Darkness, and by the notion that he was a sinister influence manipulating Bush. In the journalist's 2013 publication about the pair, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is cited as commenting: "Do I represent the malevolent mastermind in the corner that operates invisibly emerge from his lair? That is a nice way to operate, in fact."
Business Interests
Dispute over his commercial relationships followed him during his tenure as VP. Although he had minimal expertise in business but strong connections in defence, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's biggest energy corporations, in 1995 as chairman and chief executive.
In 2000 he became Bush's VP candidate for the executive branch. Contentiously, during the military campaign, Halliburton was awarded US agreements valued at billions.
It significantly boosted his finances. His yearly earnings during his tenure at the firm increased from his $258,394 when he was military head to over four million. When he departed in 2000 he had a severance arrangement valued at more than $20m|twenty
