The former US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who died at age 84, was regarded as arguably the most powerful incumbents of the vice-presidency in the nation's history. While numerous second-in-commands were confined to peripheral or ceremonial positions, Cheney wielded enormous sway during the term of George W Bush, so much so that he was commonly described as the "real president".
Bush resented this portrayal and said the dynamic was more nuanced. He observed that Cheney was respectful, consistently calling him in public as Mr President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush disputed even characterisations of their association as a partnership because it indicated that they were peers. Regardless of these denials, Cheney found the relaxed president pliable on a wide array of policy decisions.
A Period Following the Attacks
At the head of a faction of neo-conservatives that encompassed military head Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the military intervention of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the September 11th attacks on New York and Washington. At the time of the 9/11 assault, Bush had been attending a gathering at a educational institution in Florida. While Bush made his way to a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, ordering the downing of any non-communicating aircraft nearing the US Capitol.
Cheney said the assaults transformed him, causing him to be determined on revenge. Together with other neo-cons, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a invasion of Afghanistan in an endeavor to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then pressed fiercely for the armed intervention of Iraq, though there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Debated Policies
He voiced no apologies about the military campaign, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis died, and not about the harsh treatment of individuals captured after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was based on misleading information echoed by Cheney, was the correct course of action. "It represented the right thing to do back then. I was convinced then and I maintain that stance now."
But during that period, there were dissenting voices at a top tier about the poor management of Iraq. One of the administration's own representatives to the Middle East, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the post. "I observed, at a minimum," he later wrote "true dereliction, inaction, and unaccountability: at worst, lying, unfitness, and graft."
Broader Context
Cheney was not solely accountable for the Iraq invasion. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for such action. He had drafted a memorandum setting out circumstances in which US concerns might be compromised (including "obtaining vital raw materials, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "the US should be postured to operate alone when collective action cannot be arranged," explicitly referencing military moves against Iraq.
Bush also had arrived in the presidency vaguely intent on executing what his parent had specifically avoided to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. Subsequent to he had been fired by the president, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his plan of reducing America's participation in the regional tensions and proposed military action 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 trip to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore disliked that one of the most prominent accommodations in Baghdad had a floor mural with a image of his father's face that all visitors had to tread upon.
Interrogation Methods
But it was Cheney who was one of the most vociferous advocating invading Iraq, frequently quoting intelligence reports that were either weak or completely misleading. He backed what the Bush administration politely called as "intensive questioning", the application of interrogation method and torture.
Responding to a Senate report in 2014 that concluded that no useful information had resulted from the torture, Cheney rejected the report as "loaded with crap". He told Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to establish protocols and put in place procedures to apprehend the perpetrators who took the lives of 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it would not recur. That's exactly what they did and they merit a lot of recognition."
Public Image
Cheney enjoyed monikers assigned to him by critics such as the dark character and the sinister presence, and by the concept that he was a sinister influence manipulating Bush. In the author's 2013 volume about the pair, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is cited as commenting: "Am I the malevolent mastermind in the shadows that nobody ever sees leave his domain? This represents a advantageous way to function, actually."
Business Interests
Debate over his corporate affiliations pursued him during his tenure as VP. While he had minimal expertise in business but established relationships in defence, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's biggest oil and gas corporations, in 1995 as chair and chief executive.
In 2000 he was selected as Bush's election partner for the presidency. Debatably, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was granted US deals totaling billions.
It greatly increased his wealth. His yearly compensation during his time at the firm grew from his $258,394 when he was Pentagon chief to $4.4m. When he resigned in 2000 he had a compensation package worth more than $20m|twenty
