The late US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who died at age 84, was seen as among the most powerful incumbents of the vice-presidency in American history. Although countless VPs were limited to peripheral or ceremonial roles, Cheney wielded substantial influence during the presidency of George W Bush, so much so that he was commonly referred to as the "actual president".
Bush disliked this portrayal and stated the dynamic was more nuanced. He noted that Cheney was courteous, invariably calling him in official appearances as the President, while he called him as Dick. Bush disputed even descriptions of their relationship as a team because it implied that they were peers. Regardless of such protestations, Cheney found the relaxed president pliable on a whole raft of policy decisions.
A Aftermath of 9/11
In charge of a faction of neo-conservatives that featured military head Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the military intervention of Iraq in 2003 in response to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. At the time of the 9/11 assault, Bush had been participating in a session at a school in Florida. While Bush made his way to a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney took command, commanding the shooting down of any non-communicating airplanes approaching the government building.
Cheney claimed the strikes altered his perspective, leading him to become determined on retaliation. Along with other neo-conservatives, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a takeover of Afghanistan in an endeavor to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the military action of Iraq, even though there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein having involvement.
Disputed Actions
He expressed no regrets about the invasion, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, nor about the waterboarding of individuals captured after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was predicated on inaccurate information repeated by Cheney, was the correct path to take. "It proved to be the correct action to do back then. I was convinced then and I believe it presently."
However even at the time, there were opposing views at a high level about the botched execution of Iraq. One of the administration's own special envoys to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the role. "I observed, as a baseline," he wrote later "clear negligence, negligence, and irresponsibility: potentially, lying, ineptitude, and graft."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not completely to blame for the Iraq invasion. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for comparable steps. He had written a memo detailing circumstances in which US concerns might be threatened (featuring "access to essential resources, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "the United States should be postured to act independently when cooperative measures cannot be arranged," specifically citing military moves against Iraq.
Bush too had arrived in the Oval Office somewhat determined on implementing what his predecessor had notably declined to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. Following he had been dismissed by the president, the finance chief Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his objective of lowering America's participation in the regional tensions and suggested armed intervention against Iraq.
Bush held a individual resentment against Saddam, convinced he had been responsible for a plot to assassinate his father, 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 portrait of his predecessor's visage that each person had to tread upon.
Interrogation Methods
But it was Cheney who was among the most vociferous advocating invading Iraq, consistently citing intelligence reports that were whether weak or completely deceptive. He supported what the Bush administration politely called as "enhanced interrogation", the application of simulated drowning and torture.
Responding to a Senate report in 2014 that concluded that no valuable data had come from the harsh techniques, Cheney rejected the conclusions as "riddled with crap". He informed Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to implement measures and establish programmes to catch the perpetrators who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it would not recur. That is precisely what they did and they merit a lot of credit."
Public Persona
Cheney enjoyed nicknames imposed on him by critics such as the dark character and The Prince of Darkness, and by the concept that he was a shadow power controlling Bush. In Peter Baker's 2013 book about the pair, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is quoted as saying: "Is it me who is the malevolent mastermind in the corner that remains unseen come out of his lair? That is a advantageous way to operate, actually."
Business Interests
Dispute over his corporate affiliations pursued him throughout his time as vice-president. Although he had minimal expertise in business but good contacts in defence, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial oil and gas conglomerates, in 1995 as chair and chief executive.
In 2000 he became Bush's election partner for the executive branch. Debatably, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was awarded US deals totaling substantial sums.
It made him rich. His yearly earnings during his tenure at the firm increased from his quarter-million dollars during his time as defence secretary to over four million. When he resigned in 2000 he had a compensation package totaling over $20m|twenty
