The late US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who has died at the age of 84, was seen as one of the most influential holders of that position in US history. While numerous second-in-commands were confined to minor or figurehead roles, Cheney held huge influence during the administration of George W Bush, to the point that he was frequently called as the "real president".
Bush resented that description and stated the dynamic was more complicated. He noted that Cheney was courteous, always addressing him in official appearances as the President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush questioned even portrayals of their association as a team because it implied that they were on equal footing. Regardless of these objections, Cheney considered the relaxed president malleable on a whole raft of administrative determinations.
The Aftermath of 9/11
Leading of a group of conservative hawks that encompassed defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the September 11th attacks on New York and Washington. At the time of the 9/11 strike, Bush had been participating in a meeting at a educational institution in Florida. While Bush headed for a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney took command, directing the downing of any non-communicating planes nearing the government building.
Cheney claimed the attacks changed him, causing him to be intent on revenge. Together with other neo-conservatives, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a invasion of Afghanistan in an attempt to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the armed intervention of Iraq, though there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Disputed Actions
He voiced no apologies about the armed intervention, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis died, or about the waterboarding of individuals apprehended after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was based on faulty intelligence circulated by Cheney, was the correct course of action. "It proved to be the proper decision to do at that time. I had faith back then and I hold that view presently."
Yet even then, there were dissenting voices at a senior level about the botched execution 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 witnessed, at a minimum," he subsequently stated "true dereliction, carelessness, and unaccountability: in the worst case, lying, unfitness, and dishonesty."
Broader Context
Cheney was not entirely to blame for the Iraq military action. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for such action. He had drafted a document setting out circumstances in which US concerns might be endangered (including "access to vital raw materials, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "the US should be positioned to operate alone when cooperative measures prove impossible," explicitly citing armed actions against Iraq.
Bush too had arrived in the Oval Office vaguely intent on carrying out what his predecessor had specifically avoided to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. Subsequent to he had been sacked by the president, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his intention of lowering America's involvement in the Middle East dispute and proposed defense operations against Iraq.
Bush carried a personal grudge against Saddam, convinced he had been responsible for a conspiracy to kill his parent, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore objected to that one of the most prominent establishments in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a portrait of his parent's face that each person had to walk over.
Interrogation Methods
Yet it was Cheney who was one of the most vociferous supporting attacking Iraq, consistently citing agency briefings that were either thin or completely misleading. He backed what the Bush administration politely called as "enhanced interrogation", the application of waterboarding and torture.
Answering a Senate report in 2014 that determined that no actionable intelligence had come from the torture, Cheney dismissed the conclusions as "loaded with crap". He informed Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to implement measures and put in place programmes to capture the bastards who murdered 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 praise."
Public Persona
Cheney enjoyed nicknames given to him by critics such as the Star Wars villain and the sinister presence, and by the idea that he was a sinister influence controlling Bush. In the journalist's 2013 publication about the duo, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is quoted as saying: "Is it me who is the malevolent mastermind in the shadows that nobody ever sees come out of his lair? It's a nice way to operate, truthfully."
Corporate Connections
Dispute over his corporate affiliations pursued him through his period as VP. Even though he had minimal expertise in commerce but established relationships in defence, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial energy companies, in 1995 as chair and top executive.
In 2000 he became Bush's election partner for the presidency. Controversially, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was granted US contracts totaling billions.
It significantly boosted his finances. His yearly compensation during his tenure at the company rose from his $258,394 when he was Pentagon chief to over four million. When he left in 2000 he had a severance arrangement worth more than $20m|twenty
