The late US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who has died at the age of 84, was considered arguably the most significant occupants of that position in American history. Although many VPs were confined to peripheral or figurehead roles, Cheney exercised huge power during the administration of George W Bush, to the point that he was commonly referred to as the "real president".
Bush objected to such a characterisation and said the dynamic was more complex. He pointed out that Cheney was deferential, consistently calling him in public settings as the President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush disputed even descriptions of their association as a collaboration because it implied that they were peers. In spite of these denials, Cheney considered the relaxed president accommodating on a whole raft of administrative determinations.
A Period Following the Attacks
In charge of a contingent of neo-conservatives that encompassed Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the military intervention of Iraq in 2003 in response to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 strike, Bush had been attending a session at a educational institution in Florida. Whereas Bush made his way to a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, directing the downing of any unidentified airplanes nearing the US Capitol.
Cheney stated the strikes altered his perspective, making him become determined on revenge. Along with other neo-cons, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a takeover of Afghanistan in an attempt to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then pressed fiercely for the invasion of Iraq, though there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein playing a role.
Debated Actions
He showed no remorse about the military campaign, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis died, and not about the waterboarding of detainees rounded up after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was predicated on inaccurate reports repeated by Cheney, was the proper course of action. "It proved to be the right thing to do then. I had faith back then and I hold that view presently."
However even at the time, there were dissenting voices at a top tier about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the administration's own delegates to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the position. "I saw, at a minimum," he subsequently stated "true dereliction, carelessness, and unaccountability: at worst, falsehoods, unfitness, and corruption."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not solely responsible for the Iraq military action. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for such action. He had drafted a memorandum detailing situations in which American interests might be compromised (encompassing "obtaining vital raw materials, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "the United States should be prepared to take unilateral action when joint efforts cannot be orchestrated," specifically citing defense operations against Iraq.
Bush also had arrived in the presidency somewhat determined on executing what his parent had notably declined to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. After he had been sacked 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 intention of lowering America's involvement in the regional tensions and mooted military action against Iraq.
Bush bore a personal grudge against Saddam, thinking he had been responsible for a conspiracy to murder his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He also resented that one of the biggest accommodations in Baghdad had a floor mural with a likeness of his parent's face that everyone had to step on.
Investigation Approaches
Yet it was Cheney who was one of the most outspoken behind attacking Iraq, repeatedly referencing agency briefings that were both insubstantial or entirely inaccurate. He endorsed what the Bush administration euphemistically referred to as "advanced techniques", the employment of simulated drowning and physical pressure.
Answering a Senate analysis in 2014 that concluded that no useful information had come from the interrogation methods, Cheney dismissed the findings as "loaded with crap". He stated to Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to establish protocols and create programmes to catch the individuals who took the lives of 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it would not recur. That's exactly what they did and they merit a lot of praise."
Public Persona
Cheney enjoyed monikers imposed on him by critics such as the Star Wars villain and The Prince of Darkness, and by the idea that he was a dark force controlling Bush. In Peter Baker's 2013 volume about the duo, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is quoted as saying: "Am I the evil genius in the background that nobody ever sees leave his lair? This represents a advantageous way to work, actually."
Business Interests
Debate over his corporate affiliations pursued him through his period as second-in-command. Even though he had limited background in business but established relationships in security, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial oil and gas companies, in 1995 as chairman and top executive.
In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's election partner for the White House. Controversially, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was awarded US deals totaling substantial sums.
It made him rich. His annual income during his time at the firm grew from his $258,394 during his time as defence secretary to over four million. When he departed in 2000 he had a package worth in excess of $20m|twenty
