The late US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who died at the age of 84, was regarded as one of the most significant occupants of that position in US history. Although countless vice-presidents were limited to marginal or symbolic positions, Cheney held enormous sway during the presidency of George W Bush, so much so that he was frequently described as the "real president".
Bush resented that description and claimed the dynamic was more nuanced. He noted that Cheney was deferential, invariably referring to him in official appearances as the President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush disputed even descriptions of their relationship as a team because it suggested that they were peers. Despite these objections, Cheney viewed the relaxed president accommodating on a wide array of administrative determinations.
A Period Following the Attacks
At the head of a contingent 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 response to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been attending a meeting at a school in Florida. While Bush traveled to a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney took command, directing the shooting down of any unidentified aircraft approaching the Capitol building.
Cheney claimed the attacks changed him, causing him to be focused on retaliation. In conjunction with other neo-cons, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a takeover of Afghanistan in an attempt to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the invasion of Iraq, even though there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein having involvement.
Disputed Actions
He showed no remorse about the military campaign, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, and not about the enhanced interrogation of individuals apprehended after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was founded on misleading information repeated by Cheney, was the right path to take. "It proved to be the proper decision to do then. I was convinced at the time and I maintain that stance now."
But during that period, there were contrary opinions at a top tier about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the government's own special envoys to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the role. "I witnessed, at a minimum," he subsequently stated "obvious failure, negligence, and irresponsibility: potentially, lying, incompetence, and corruption."
Broader Context
Cheney was not solely accountable for the Iraq campaign. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for similar measures. He had written a document setting out situations in which US concerns might be endangered (including "availability of crucial commodities, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "the United States should be postured to operate alone when cooperative measures cannot be orchestrated," specifically mentioning armed actions against Iraq.
Bush too had assumed the White House somewhat determined on carrying out what his father had famously refused to do in 1991; topple Saddam. Following he had been fired 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 plan of reducing America's participation in the regional tensions and suggested defense operations against Iraq.
Bush held a individual resentment against Saddam, convinced he had been involved in a plot to kill his parent, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally objected to that one of the largest hotels in Baghdad had a floor mural with a likeness of his father's countenance that everyone had to step on.
Interrogation Methods
However it was Cheney who was part of the most vociferous supporting attacking Iraq, frequently referencing agency briefings that were both weak or entirely deceptive. He endorsed what the Bush White House politely called as "enhanced interrogation", the employment of simulated drowning and physical pressure.
Responding to a Senate report in 2014 that concluded that no valuable data had resulted from the torture, Cheney disregarded the report as "riddled with crap". He stated to Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to take steps and put in place programmes to capture the bastards who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it would not recur. That is precisely what they did and they deserve a lot of credit."
External Perception
Cheney reveled in monikers assigned to him by detractors such as Darth Vader and the sinister presence, and by the idea that he was a shadow power directing Bush. In Peter Baker's 2013 book about the pair, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is cited as commenting: "Do I represent the malevolent mastermind in the shadows that nobody ever sees emerge from his hole? It's a effective way to function, in fact."
Corporate Connections
Controversy over his corporate affiliations pursued him throughout his time as vice-president. While he had limited background in commerce but good contacts in defence, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's largest energy conglomerates, in 1995 as chairman and chief executive.
In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's VP candidate for the White House. Debatably, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was granted US deals totaling billions.
It made him rich. His annual income during his tenure at the firm grew from his quarter-million dollars during his time as defence secretary to millions. When he left in 2000 he had a compensation package totaling over $20m|twenty
