The late US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who has died at the age of 84, was considered arguably the most powerful holders of that position in US history. Whereas many vice-presidents were confined to marginal or symbolic positions, Cheney wielded huge power during the presidency of George W Bush, to the point that he was often referred to as the "actual president".
Bush resented such a characterisation and stated the relationship was more complicated. He observed that Cheney was deferential, invariably addressing him in public settings as President, while he called him as Dick. Bush disputed even portrayals of their association as a collaboration because it suggested that they were equals. Regardless of these objections, Cheney found the laidback president accommodating on a wide array of policy decisions.
The Aftermath of 9/11
At the head of a faction of neo-conservatives that included Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the military intervention of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the September 11th attacks on New York and Washington. During of the 9/11 assault, Bush had been participating in a meeting at a educational institution in Florida. While Bush traveled to a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, directing the shooting down of any non-communicating airplanes approaching the Capitol building.
Cheney stated the assaults altered his perspective, causing him to be intent on revenge. Together with other neo-conservatives, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a takeover of Afghanistan in an endeavor to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then pressed fiercely for the armed intervention of Iraq, though there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Controversial Decisions
He expressed no regrets about the military campaign, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis perished, nor about the waterboarding of suspects apprehended after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was predicated on faulty intelligence circulated by Cheney, was the proper path to take. "It proved to be the right thing to do then. I was convinced at the time and I maintain that stance today."
However even then, there were contrary opinions at a senior level about the botched execution of Iraq. One of the government's own special envoys to the Middle East, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the role. "I saw, at a minimum," he wrote later "clear negligence, inaction, and unaccountability: at worst, deception, ineptitude, and graft."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not solely responsible for the Iraq campaign. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for similar measures. He had composed a document outlining situations in which American interests might be threatened (featuring "obtaining essential resources, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "the United States should be positioned to operate alone when joint efforts cannot be arranged," specifically referencing military moves against Iraq.
Bush too had entered the Oval Office vaguely intent on implementing what his parent had notably declined to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. After he had been dismissed by the administration, the finance chief Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his objective of lowering America's involvement in the regional tensions and suggested military action against Iraq.
Bush bore a private grievance against Saddam, believing he had been behind a plot to assassinate his father, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore disliked that one of the biggest establishments in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a portrait of his predecessor's visage that each person had to tread upon.
Questioning Techniques
Yet it was Cheney who was among the most vociferous advocating striking Iraq, repeatedly referencing agency briefings that were whether thin or totally misleading. He backed what the Bush administration politely called as "intensive questioning", the employment of simulated drowning and physical pressure.
Responding to a Senate report in 2014 that found that no useful information had come from the torture, Cheney dismissed the conclusions as "loaded with crap". He stated to Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to implement measures and establish procedures to apprehend the perpetrators who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it was not repeated. That's exactly what they did and they merit a lot of credit."
Public Persona
Cheney reveled in labels given to him by critics such as the dark character and the dark figure, and by the concept that he was a sinister influence controlling Bush. In Peter Baker's 2013 volume about the two, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is cited as commenting: "Do I represent the evil genius in the background that remains unseen come out of his hole? It's a nice way to work, truthfully."
Commercial Ties
Dispute over his commercial relationships accompanied him through his period as vice-president. Although he had limited background in commerce but good contacts in military, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial energy companies, in 1995 as chair and chief executive.
In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's election partner for the presidency. Controversially, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was granted US deals totaling billions.
It significantly boosted his finances. His yearly compensation during his period at the company grew from his previous salary when he was defence secretary to $4.4m. When he departed in 2000 he had a package totaling over $20m|twenty
