The former US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who died at age 84, was considered arguably the most powerful holders of the vice-presidency in the nation's history. Whereas many VPs were limited to marginal or ceremonial positions, Cheney wielded substantial influence during the term of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was commonly described as the "true president".
Bush objected to such a characterisation and said the dynamic was more nuanced. He pointed out that Cheney was deferential, invariably addressing him in public as Mr President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush disputed even descriptions of their relationship as a collaboration because it indicated that they were on equal footing. Despite such protestations, Cheney considered the laidback president malleable on a broad range of administrative determinations.
The Period Following the Attacks
At the head of a faction of conservative hawks that featured military head Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the invasion of Iraq in 2003 in reaction to the September 11th attacks on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been taking part in a meeting at a elementary school in Florida. Whereas Bush traveled to a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, ordering the downing of any unidentified aircraft heading toward the Capitol building.
Cheney said the strikes transformed him, leading him to become determined on retaliation. Together with other neo-conservatives, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a invasion of Afghanistan in an effort to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then pressed fiercely for the military action of Iraq, even though there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein having involvement.
Debated Policies
He showed no remorse about the invasion, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis perished, and not about the harsh treatment of individuals rounded up after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was based on misleading intelligence repeated by Cheney, was the proper course of action. "It proved to be the right thing to do back then. I had faith back then and I believe it presently."
Yet even then, there were contrary opinions at a top tier about the botched execution of Iraq. One of the government's own representatives to the Middle East, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the role. "I witnessed, at a minimum," he later wrote "true dereliction, inaction, and recklessness: at worst, falsehoods, ineptitude, and dishonesty."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not solely accountable for the Iraq campaign. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for similar measures. He had drafted a document detailing scenarios in which national priorities might be endangered (encompassing "access to essential resources, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "the US should be prepared to act independently when joint efforts cannot be arranged," specifically referencing military moves against Iraq.
Bush also had assumed the Oval Office generally inclined on implementing what his parent had famously refused to do in 1991; remove Saddam. After he had been fired by the administration, the finance chief Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the first meeting of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had announced his objective of diminishing America's participation in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and proposed military action against Iraq.
Bush held a personal grudge against Saddam, convinced he had been responsible for a plot to kill his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He also resented that one of the biggest establishments in Baghdad had a floor mural with a image of his predecessor's countenance that all visitors had to tread upon.
Interrogation Methods
Yet it was Cheney who was one of the most outspoken supporting attacking Iraq, consistently citing agency briefings that were either insubstantial or entirely misleading. He endorsed what the Bush administration euphemistically referred to as "intensive questioning", the application of simulated drowning and harsh treatment.
Addressing a Senate report in 2014 that found that no actionable intelligence had been obtained through the interrogation methods, Cheney dismissed the findings as "full of crap". He stated to Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to implement measures and establish initiatives to capture the perpetrators who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it never happened again. That's exactly what they did and they deserve a lot of recognition."
Public Persona
Cheney took pleasure in nicknames given to him by detractors such as Darth Vader and the sinister presence, and by the notion that he was a shadow power directing Bush. In Peter Baker'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 sinister strategist in the background that nobody ever sees emerge from his domain? It's a advantageous way to work, in fact."
Corporate Connections
Dispute over his business interests followed him throughout his time as vice-president. While he had minimal expertise in corporate affairs but established relationships in military, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's biggest petroleum companies, in 1995 as chairman and top executive.
In 2000 he was selected as Bush's VP candidate for the White House. Controversially, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was granted US deals valued at multiple billions.
It made him rich. His yearly compensation during his time at the company grew from his $258,394 during his time as Pentagon chief to over four million. When he resigned in 2000 he had a package totaling in excess of $20m|twenty
