The late US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who died at age 84, was regarded as arguably the most significant occupants of the vice-presidency in US history. Whereas numerous VPs were limited to minor or symbolic functions, Cheney wielded enormous power during the presidency of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was frequently described as the "true president".
Bush resented this portrayal and said the relationship was more complex. He noted that Cheney was courteous, invariably calling him in official appearances as Mr President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush questioned even characterisations of their association as a team because it implied that they were on equal footing. In spite of these objections, Cheney viewed the relaxed president pliable on a wide array of governmental choices.
The Period Following the Attacks
Leading of a group of neo-cons that featured defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in reaction to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. At the time of the 9/11 assault, Bush had been participating in a session at a educational institution in Florida. Whereas Bush traveled to a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, directing the shooting down of any unresponsive planes nearing the US Capitol.
Cheney stated the strikes changed him, causing him to be intent on revenge. Along with other conservative figures, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a takeover of Afghanistan in an effort to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the military action of Iraq, although there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein playing a role.
Controversial Policies
He voiced no apologies about the invasion, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis perished, or about the enhanced interrogation of suspects captured after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was based on faulty intelligence repeated by Cheney, was the correct decision. "It was the proper decision to do at that time. I believed it then and I maintain that stance today."
Yet even at the time, there were opposing views at a senior level about the botched execution of Iraq. One of the government's own delegates to the Middle East, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the position. "I witnessed, at a minimum," he subsequently stated "clear negligence, negligence, and unaccountability: potentially, falsehoods, ineptitude, and dishonesty."
Broader Context
Cheney was not entirely responsible for the Iraq campaign. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for similar measures. He had written a document setting out circumstances in which national priorities might be compromised (featuring "access to crucial commodities, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "the US should be positioned to operate alone when cooperative measures cannot be arranged," explicitly citing military moves against Iraq.
Bush also had entered the White House generally inclined on executing what his parent had specifically avoided to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. Following he had been dismissed by the president, the finance chief Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the first meeting of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his intention of reducing America's engagement in the Middle East dispute and mooted armed intervention against Iraq.
Bush carried a individual resentment against Saddam, believing he had been involved in a conspiracy to kill his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally resented that one of the most prominent accommodations in Baghdad had a floor mural with a portrait of his parent's visage that each person had to step on.
Questioning Techniques
However it was Cheney who was part of the most vehement behind striking Iraq, repeatedly quoting information documents that were either weak or entirely misleading. He supported what the Bush administration euphemistically referred to as "enhanced interrogation", the use of waterboarding and physical pressure.
Answering a Senate analysis in 2014 that found that no useful information had been obtained through the torture, Cheney disregarded the report as "loaded with crap". He stated to Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to implement measures and establish procedures to catch the individuals who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it would not recur. That's exactly what they did and they deserve a lot of recognition."
Public Persona
Cheney enjoyed labels imposed on him by detractors such as Darth Vader and The Prince of Darkness, and by the notion that he was a shadow power manipulating Bush. In the journalist's 2013 volume about the two, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is reported as stating: "Is it me who is the malevolent mastermind in the shadows that remains unseen come out of his hole? That is a nice way to work, truthfully."
Corporate Connections
Dispute over his corporate affiliations accompanied him through his period as vice-president. Even though he had little experience in corporate affairs but established relationships in defence, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's largest oil and gas companies, in 1995 as chairman and CEO.
In 2000 he was selected as Bush's VP candidate for the White House. Controversially, during the military campaign, Halliburton was given US agreements valued at multiple billions.
It made him rich. His annual income during his time at the company grew from his previous salary while military head to $4.4m. When he resigned in 2000 he had a compensation package worth in excess of $20m|twenty
