The former US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who has died at the age of 84, was regarded as among the most powerful holders of that office in US history. Although countless second-in-commands were limited to minor or symbolic functions, Cheney held substantial influence during the administration of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was commonly described as the "true president".
Bush resented this portrayal and claimed the connection was more complicated. He pointed out that Cheney was deferential, always referring to him in public settings as President, while he called him as Dick. Bush questioned even descriptions of their relationship as a team because it suggested that they were equals. In spite of these denials, Cheney found the relaxed president malleable on a wide array of policy decisions.
The Period Following the Attacks
In charge of a contingent of conservative hawks that encompassed Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the invasion of Iraq in 2003 in reaction to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. At the time of the 9/11 strike, Bush had been taking part in a session at a school in Florida. As Bush traveled to a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, ordering the shooting down of any unresponsive aircraft nearing the Capitol building.
Cheney said the strikes changed him, leading him to become intent on retaliation. Together with other conservative figures, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a takeover of Afghanistan in an endeavor to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then pressed fiercely for the military action of Iraq, though there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein playing a role.
Debated Actions
He showed no remorse about the armed intervention, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, nor about the enhanced interrogation of suspects captured after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was based on misleading information circulated by Cheney, was the proper path to take. "It represented the proper decision to do at that time. I was convinced back then and I maintain that stance presently."
But even at the time, there were dissenting voices at a senior level about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the White House's own delegates to the Middle East, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the position. "I saw, as a baseline," he wrote later "true dereliction, inaction, and recklessness: at worst, falsehoods, ineptitude, and dishonesty."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not entirely accountable for the Iraq invasion. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for such action. He had written a memo detailing circumstances in which national priorities might be compromised (including "availability of essential resources, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "the US should be prepared to act independently when collective action cannot be orchestrated," explicitly referencing armed actions against Iraq.
Bush also had entered the presidency vaguely intent on executing what his father had famously refused to do in 1991; remove Saddam. Subsequent to he had been sacked by the administration, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the first meeting of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had announced his intention of lowering America's engagement in the Middle East dispute and mooted military action against Iraq.
Bush carried a private grievance against Saddam, convinced he had been behind a scheme to kill his father, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore disliked that one of the most prominent hotels in Baghdad had a ground design with a likeness of his parent's face that everyone had to tread upon.
Questioning Techniques
Yet it was Cheney who was one of the most vehement behind invading Iraq, repeatedly referencing agency briefings that were whether weak or totally inaccurate. He endorsed what the Bush White House euphemistically referred to as "advanced techniques", the application of simulated drowning and harsh treatment.
Responding to a Senate report in 2014 that found that no valuable data had been obtained through the harsh techniques, Cheney disregarded the report as "loaded with crap". He stated to Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to take steps and establish initiatives to catch the perpetrators who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it was not repeated. That is precisely what they did and they merit a lot of praise."
Public Persona
Cheney took pleasure in monikers assigned to him by opponents such as Darth Vader and the dark figure, and by the concept that he was a shadow power directing Bush. In the author's 2013 volume about the duo, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is reported as stating: "Do I represent the evil genius in the background that remains unseen leave his domain? That is a advantageous way to work, in fact."
Commercial Ties
Dispute over his commercial relationships accompanied him during his tenure as second-in-command. Even though he had limited background in corporate affairs but good contacts in military, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's biggest energy corporations, in 1995 as leader and chief executive.
In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's running mate for the executive branch. Controversially, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was awarded US deals worth multiple billions.
It made him rich. His yearly earnings during his time at the corporation increased from his previous salary during his time as Pentagon chief to millions. When he departed in 2000 he had a severance arrangement totaling over $20m|twenty
