The deceased US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who has died at the age of 84, was considered one of the most significant occupants of that position in American history. While countless second-in-commands were limited to peripheral or figurehead roles, Cheney held substantial influence during the presidency of George W Bush, to the point that he was often described as the "actual president".
Bush objected to this portrayal and claimed the relationship was more complicated. He noted that Cheney was courteous, always addressing him in public settings as the President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush disputed even descriptions of their relationship as a collaboration because it implied that they were peers. Regardless of these objections, Cheney viewed the relaxed president accommodating on a wide array of policy decisions.
A Post-9/11 Era
At the head of a contingent of neo-cons that featured military head Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the invasion 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 taking part in a meeting at a school in Florida. Whereas Bush made his way to a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, directing the destruction of any unresponsive aircraft approaching the government building.
Cheney claimed the strikes altered his perspective, making him become intent on retaliation. Along with other neo-conservatives, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a occupation of Afghanistan in an attempt to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then pressed fiercely for the military action of Iraq, although there was little proof of Saddam Hussein playing a role.
Disputed Policies
He expressed no regrets about the armed intervention, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis perished, and not about the enhanced interrogation of individuals rounded up after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was based on misleading information echoed by Cheney, was the correct course of action. "It proved to be the right thing to do then. I was convinced then and I hold that view now."
But even then, there were contrary opinions at a top tier about the botched execution of Iraq. One of the government's own special envoys to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the post. "I observed, at the very least," he wrote later "obvious failure, carelessness, and recklessness: at worst, lying, incompetence, and corruption."
Additional Factors
Cheney was not completely to blame for the Iraq invasion. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for similar measures. He had written a document outlining scenarios in which American interests might be compromised (featuring "access to crucial commodities, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "the US should be positioned to act independently when collective action cannot be arranged," particularly mentioning armed actions against Iraq.
Bush also had assumed the Oval Office somewhat determined on implementing what his father had famously refused to do in 1991; remove Saddam. Following he had been dismissed by the president, the Treasury head 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 involvement in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and proposed military action against Iraq.
Bush carried a private grievance against Saddam, believing he had been behind a conspiracy to murder his parent, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He also resented that one of the largest establishments in Baghdad had a floor mural with a image of his predecessor's face that all visitors had to step on.
Questioning Techniques
But it was Cheney who was part of the most vociferous advocating attacking Iraq, repeatedly citing intelligence reports that were both insubstantial or entirely inaccurate. He endorsed what the Bush administration politely called as "advanced techniques", the application of interrogation method and torture.
Answering a Senate report in 2014 that concluded that no actionable intelligence had come from the torture, Cheney disregarded the report as "loaded with crap". He informed Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to establish protocols and create programmes to capture the bastards who took the lives of 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it would not recur. That is precisely what they did and they earn a lot of credit."
External Perception
Cheney reveled in monikers given to him by critics such as the Star Wars villain and The Prince of Darkness, and by the idea that he was a shadow power controlling Bush. In Peter Baker's 2013 book about the pair, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is quoted as saying: "Do I represent the evil genius in the shadows that remains unseen leave his lair? That is a advantageous way to operate, truthfully."
Commercial Ties
Dispute over his business interests followed him throughout his time as vice-president. While he had minimal expertise in commerce but established relationships in security, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's biggest petroleum corporations, in 1995 as chair and top executive.
In 2000 he became Bush's VP candidate for the executive branch. Debatably, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was given US contracts valued at multiple billions.
It greatly increased his wealth. His yearly earnings during his period at the company increased from his previous salary during his time as Pentagon chief to $4.4m. When he left in 2000 he had a severance arrangement valued at over $20m|twenty
