The deceased US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who died at the age of 84, was regarded as arguably the most influential occupants of the vice-presidency in US history. Whereas countless VPs were limited to marginal or figurehead positions, Cheney wielded huge influence during the administration of George W Bush, to the point that he was frequently described as the "real president".
Bush objected to such a characterisation and claimed the connection was more nuanced. He pointed out that Cheney was respectful, always addressing him in public as Mr President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush disputed even descriptions of their partnership as a partnership because it indicated that they were equals. Despite these denials, Cheney viewed the laidback president accommodating on a whole raft of governmental choices.
The Period Following the Attacks
At the head of a contingent of conservative hawks that included military head Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the military intervention of Iraq in 2003 in reaction to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. During of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been attending a session at a school in Florida. As Bush made his way to a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, ordering the destruction of any unresponsive planes approaching the US Capitol.
Cheney said the attacks transformed him, leading him to become focused on revenge. Along with other conservative figures, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a takeover of Afghanistan in an attempt to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then pressed fiercely for the invasion of Iraq, though there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein having involvement.
Debated Policies
He expressed no regrets about the military campaign, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis perished, or about the waterboarding of detainees apprehended after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was founded on misleading intelligence circulated by Cheney, was the correct decision. "It was the right thing to do then. I was convinced back then and I hold that view today."
Yet during that period, there were dissenting voices at a high level about the poor management of Iraq. One of the government's own special envoys to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the position. "I witnessed, at the very least," he subsequently stated "true dereliction, inaction, and recklessness: at worst, falsehoods, ineptitude, and corruption."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not entirely to blame for the Iraq military action. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for similar measures. He had written a memorandum detailing circumstances in which national priorities might be threatened (encompassing "obtaining crucial commodities, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "America should be postured to act independently when cooperative measures cannot be arranged," specifically citing military moves against Iraq.
Bush also had entered the Oval Office vaguely intent on executing what his parent had famously refused to do in 1991; topple Saddam. Subsequent to he had been dismissed by the administration, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the first meeting of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had announced his plan of diminishing America's involvement in the regional tensions and suggested armed intervention against Iraq.
Bush bore a individual resentment against Saddam, thinking he had been involved in a conspiracy to kill his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally objected to that one of the largest accommodations in Baghdad had a floor mural with a image of his father's face that everyone had to step on.
Questioning Techniques
But it was Cheney who was part of the most vehement behind invading Iraq, repeatedly referencing information documents that were whether insubstantial or entirely inaccurate. He endorsed what the Bush administration politely called as "intensive questioning", the employment of waterboarding and harsh treatment.
Addressing a Senate report in 2014 that determined that no actionable intelligence had resulted from the harsh techniques, Cheney disregarded the conclusions as "riddled with crap". He informed Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to establish protocols and establish programmes to apprehend the perpetrators who took the lives of 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it was not repeated. That's exactly what they did and they merit a lot of recognition."
Public Persona
Cheney took pleasure in monikers imposed on him by detractors such as the dark character and the dark figure, and by the idea that he was a shadow power directing Bush. In Peter Baker's 2013 volume 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 operates invisibly leave his domain? This represents a nice way to work, actually."
Commercial Ties
Debate over his business interests followed him through his period as second-in-command. While he had little experience in business but strong connections in military, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's biggest energy corporations, in 1995 as chairman and chief executive.
In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's running mate for the executive branch. Debatably, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was given US agreements worth multiple billions.
It made him rich. His annual income during his time at the firm grew from his quarter-million dollars while Pentagon chief to $4.4m. When he resigned in 2000 he had a compensation package valued at more than $20m|twenty
