The late US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who died at age 84, was considered among the most significant occupants of the vice-presidency in American history. Although numerous vice-presidents had to settle for peripheral or figurehead functions, Cheney held huge power during the presidency of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was frequently referred to as the "true president".
Bush disliked such a characterisation and claimed the dynamic was more complicated. He noted that Cheney was deferential, consistently referring to him in public as President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush disputed even portrayals of their partnership as a partnership because it implied that they were equals. In spite of these objections, Cheney viewed the easygoing president malleable on a wide array of administrative determinations.
The Period Following the Attacks
Leading of a faction 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 answer to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. At the time of the 9/11 assault, Bush had been attending a session at a school in Florida. While Bush traveled to a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, commanding the shooting down of any unidentified airplanes nearing the government building.
Cheney said the strikes altered his perspective, causing him to be focused on revenge. Along 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 vigorously pushed for the military action of Iraq, though there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein playing a role.
Disputed Policies
He expressed no regrets about the armed intervention, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, nor about the enhanced interrogation of individuals captured after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was founded on faulty reports repeated by Cheney, was the right path to take. "It was the right thing to do at that time. I had faith at the time and I hold that view now."
However even then, there were dissenting voices at a high level about the botched execution of Iraq. One of the administration's own special envoys to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the position. "I observed, at a minimum," he subsequently stated "true dereliction, inaction, and recklessness: in the worst case, falsehoods, ineptitude, and graft."
Broader Context
Cheney was not entirely accountable for the Iraq campaign. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for similar measures. He had composed a document detailing situations in which US concerns might be endangered (including "obtaining crucial commodities, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "the United States should be prepared to act independently when cooperative measures prove impossible," particularly referencing armed actions against Iraq.
Bush also had assumed the presidency vaguely intent on implementing what his predecessor had famously refused to do in 1991; remove Saddam. Following he had been fired by the White House, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had announced his intention of reducing America's involvement in the regional tensions and mooted armed intervention against Iraq.
Bush carried a personal grudge against Saddam, believing he had been involved in a conspiracy to murder 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 ground design with a image of his predecessor's face that all visitors had to tread upon.
Questioning Techniques
Yet it was Cheney who was among the most vociferous behind invading Iraq, frequently citing intelligence reports that were both insubstantial or completely deceptive. He endorsed what the Bush administration euphemistically referred to as "intensive questioning", the use of interrogation method and harsh treatment.
Responding to a Senate document in 2014 that found that no useful information had come from the harsh techniques, Cheney disregarded the findings as "full of crap". He informed Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to establish protocols and establish programmes to catch the perpetrators who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it never happened again. That is precisely what they did and they earn a lot of praise."
Public Persona
Cheney reveled in labels imposed on him by critics such as the dark character and The Prince of Darkness, and by the notion that he was a sinister influence directing Bush. In the author's 2013 publication about the duo, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is cited as commenting: "Am I the sinister strategist in the shadows that operates invisibly leave his lair? That is a advantageous way to operate, actually."
Commercial Ties
Dispute over his corporate affiliations followed him during his tenure as second-in-command. While he had little experience in business but established relationships in security, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial petroleum conglomerates, in 1995 as chairman and chief executive.
In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's VP candidate for the presidency. Controversially, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was given US agreements valued at multiple billions.
It greatly increased his wealth. His annual income during his time at the firm rose from his $258,394 during his time as Pentagon chief to $4.4m. When he resigned in 2000 he had a package totaling more than $20m|twenty
