The deceased US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who died at age 84, was seen as among the most influential holders of the vice-presidency in the nation's history. Whereas many second-in-commands had to settle for marginal or figurehead positions, Cheney wielded huge sway during the administration of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was frequently described as the "true president".
Bush resented that description and said the relationship was more complex. He noted that Cheney was deferential, always addressing him in public as Mr President, while he called him as Dick. Bush challenged even descriptions of their relationship as a partnership because it implied that they were equals. In spite of such protestations, Cheney found the easygoing president accommodating on a whole raft of governmental choices.
In charge of a group of conservative hawks that encompassed defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in reaction to the September 11th attacks on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 assault, Bush had been taking part in a gathering at a school in Florida. While Bush made his way to a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney took command, ordering the shooting down of any non-communicating aircraft approaching the Capitol building.
Cheney stated the strikes changed him, leading him to become determined on retribution. Together with other neo-cons, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a takeover of Afghanistan in an effort to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the armed intervention of Iraq, although there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein having involvement.
He showed no remorse about the armed intervention, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis perished, or about the enhanced interrogation of detainees rounded up after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was based on inaccurate intelligence circulated by Cheney, was the correct path to take. "It was the proper decision to do back then. I was convinced then and I hold that view now."
But even at the time, there were dissenting voices at a senior level about the poor management of Iraq. One of the White House's own special envoys to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the post. "I witnessed, at the very least," he wrote later "true dereliction, inaction, and recklessness: at worst, lying, ineptitude, and dishonesty."
Cheney was not completely to blame for the Iraq invasion. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for similar measures. He had drafted a document setting out scenarios in which national priorities might be compromised (encompassing "availability of crucial commodities, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "the United States should be postured to take unilateral action when cooperative measures prove impossible," explicitly mentioning defense operations against Iraq.
Bush too had assumed the presidency vaguely intent on implementing what his father had specifically avoided to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. Following he had been fired 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 plan of reducing America's involvement in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and mooted armed intervention against Iraq.
Bush held a personal grudge against Saddam, believing he had been involved in a scheme to assassinate his father, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally objected to that one of the biggest establishments in Baghdad had a floor mural with a portrait of his father's face that everyone had to tread upon.
However it was Cheney who was among the most vociferous behind invading Iraq, repeatedly citing information documents that were whether thin or entirely misleading. He backed what the Bush government euphemistically referred to as "advanced techniques", the employment of simulated drowning and torture.
Responding to a Senate report in 2014 that concluded that no actionable intelligence had come from the harsh techniques, Cheney dismissed the report as "riddled with crap". He told Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to establish protocols and put in place initiatives to apprehend the individuals who took the lives of 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it was not repeated. That was specifically what they did and they deserve a lot of recognition."
Cheney reveled in nicknames assigned to him by critics such as the Star Wars villain and the dark figure, and by the concept that he was a dark force directing Bush. In the journalist's 2013 book about the pair, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is reported as stating: "Is it me who is the sinister strategist in the shadows that operates invisibly emerge from his lair? This represents a advantageous way to operate, actually."
Dispute over his commercial relationships pursued him through his period as VP. While he had limited background in commerce but good contacts in security, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's biggest energy corporations, in 1995 as leader and top executive.
In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's election partner for the presidency. Controversially, during the military campaign, Halliburton was given US agreements worth billions.
It greatly increased his wealth. His yearly earnings during his time at the firm increased from his $258,394 while defence secretary to over four million. When he departed in 2000 he had a severance arrangement valued at more than $20m|twenty
Eva de Vries is a passionate book lover and local writer from Eindhoven.
