The former US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who died at the age of 84, was considered arguably the most influential holders of that office in American history. Although many vice-presidents had to settle for marginal or figurehead roles, Cheney exercised huge sway during the administration of George W Bush, so much so that he was often described as the "real president".
Bush objected to this portrayal and claimed the dynamic was more complex. He noted that Cheney was respectful, always calling him in official appearances as the President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush disputed even characterisations of their relationship as a collaboration because it suggested that they were on equal footing. Despite these objections, Cheney found the laidback president accommodating on a wide array of administrative determinations.
A Aftermath of 9/11
At the head of a faction of conservative hawks that featured defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the invasion of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been attending a meeting at a elementary school in Florida. While Bush made his way to a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney took command, commanding the destruction of any non-communicating aircraft nearing the US Capitol.
Cheney stated the assaults changed him, making him become focused on retaliation. Along with other neo-conservatives, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a takeover of Afghanistan in an effort to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the armed intervention of Iraq, even though there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Controversial Decisions
He expressed no regrets about the armed intervention, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis died, nor about the enhanced interrogation of suspects apprehended after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was based on faulty reports echoed by Cheney, was the right course of action. "It proved to be the right thing to do at that time. I was convinced back then and I maintain that stance presently."
But even at the time, there were contrary opinions at a top tier about the poor management of Iraq. One of the administration's own representatives to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the position. "I observed, at the very least," he wrote later "true dereliction, carelessness, and recklessness: potentially, lying, unfitness, and corruption."
Additional Factors
Cheney was not entirely to blame for the Iraq military action. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for comparable steps. He had composed a memo detailing situations in which national priorities might be compromised (encompassing "obtaining crucial commodities, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "the United States should be positioned to act independently when collective action prove impossible," particularly citing military moves against Iraq.
Bush too had arrived in the presidency vaguely intent on carrying out what his father had notably declined to do in 1991; remove Saddam. Following he had been dismissed by the administration, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill disclosed how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his objective of reducing America's involvement in the regional tensions and mooted defense operations against Iraq.
Bush carried a personal grudge against Saddam, believing he had been involved in a scheme to murder his father, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He also resented that one of the most prominent accommodations in Baghdad had a ground design with a likeness of his parent's visage that everyone had to tread upon.
Interrogation Methods
Yet it was Cheney who was among the most vociferous supporting striking Iraq, consistently referencing information documents that were both insubstantial or totally inaccurate. He endorsed what the Bush administration euphemistically referred to as "enhanced interrogation", the application of interrogation method and harsh treatment.
Responding to a Senate report in 2014 that found that no actionable intelligence had come from the interrogation methods, Cheney dismissed the report as "riddled with crap". He stated to Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to implement measures and put in place programmes to capture the perpetrators who took the lives of 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it was not repeated. That is precisely what they did and they merit a lot of praise."
Public Persona
Cheney took pleasure in nicknames given to him by detractors such as the dark character and The Prince of Darkness, and by the concept that he was a shadow power directing Bush. In the journalist's 2013 publication about the duo, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is cited as commenting: "Am I the evil genius in the background that operates invisibly emerge from his lair? It's a advantageous way to operate, in fact."
Business Interests
Debate over his corporate affiliations pursued him throughout his time as second-in-command. Although he had little experience in commerce but good contacts in defence, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's largest petroleum companies, in 1995 as chairman and top executive.
In 2000 he was selected as Bush's VP candidate for the executive branch. Debatably, during the military campaign, Halliburton was given US agreements totaling multiple billions.
It made him rich. His yearly compensation during his period at the firm increased from his $258,394 while defence secretary to $4.4m. When he resigned in 2000 he had a severance arrangement valued at more than $20m|twenty
