The deceased US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who passed away at age 84, was considered one of the most significant occupants of the vice-presidency in American history. Whereas numerous second-in-commands were limited to marginal or symbolic functions, Cheney held enormous influence during the administration of George W Bush, so much so that he was commonly described as the "true president".
Bush objected to such a characterisation and said the relationship was more complicated. He noted that Cheney was respectful, invariably addressing him in official appearances as Mr President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush disputed even characterisations of their relationship as a collaboration because it indicated that they were on equal footing. Regardless of such protestations, Cheney viewed the relaxed president accommodating on a whole raft of administrative determinations.
A Aftermath of 9/11
In charge of a faction of conservative hawks that encompassed defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the invasion of Iraq in 2003 in response to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. During of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been participating in a session at a school in Florida. As Bush traveled to a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney took command, directing the downing of any unidentified aircraft heading toward the government building.
Cheney said the attacks altered his perspective, leading him to become determined on retaliation. In conjunction with other neo-cons, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a takeover of Afghanistan in an effort to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then pressed fiercely for the armed intervention of Iraq, though there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein having involvement.
Controversial Policies
He showed no remorse about the military campaign, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis died, or about the harsh treatment of individuals apprehended after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was predicated on faulty information repeated by Cheney, was the correct path to take. "It was the correct action to do at that time. I believed it at the time and I believe it today."
But even then, there were contrary opinions at a senior level about the poor management of Iraq. One of the government's own representatives to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the position. "I observed, at a minimum," he wrote later "obvious failure, negligence, and recklessness: potentially, deception, incompetence, and graft."
Broader Context
Cheney was not entirely accountable for the Iraq campaign. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for such action. He had written a document detailing scenarios in which American interests might be compromised (including "access to crucial commodities, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "the US should be prepared to operate alone when joint efforts cannot be arranged," explicitly mentioning military moves against Iraq.
Bush also had arrived in the Oval Office vaguely intent on implementing what his father had famously refused to do in 1991; topple Saddam. Following he had been sacked by the White House, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his intention of diminishing America's involvement in the regional tensions and proposed armed intervention against Iraq.
Bush held a private grievance against Saddam, convinced he had been behind a scheme to murder his father, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore disliked that one of the largest hotels in Baghdad had a ground design with a likeness of his predecessor's visage that each person had to step on.
Interrogation Methods
But it was Cheney who was one of the most outspoken advocating striking Iraq, repeatedly quoting intelligence reports that were either thin or completely misleading. He supported what the Bush White House indirectly described as "advanced techniques", the use of waterboarding and physical pressure.
Addressing a Senate report in 2014 that determined that no useful information had come from the interrogation methods, Cheney rejected the report as "loaded with crap". He stated to Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to take steps and establish programmes to catch the bastards who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it would not recur. That's exactly what they did and they deserve a lot of credit."
Public Persona
Cheney reveled in monikers assigned to him by opponents such as the Star Wars villain and The Prince of Darkness, and by the idea that he was a shadow power controlling Bush. In Peter Baker's 2013 book about the duo, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is reported as stating: "Am I the sinister strategist in the shadows that nobody ever sees come out of his domain? That is a nice way to operate, in fact."
Corporate Connections
Dispute over his commercial relationships pursued him throughout his time as VP. While he had limited background in commerce but established relationships in defence, especially 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 running mate for the White House. Controversially, during the military campaign, Halliburton was granted US deals totaling substantial sums.
It greatly increased his wealth. His annual income during his tenure at the corporation rose from his previous salary during his time as Pentagon chief to $4.4m. When he left in 2000 he had a severance arrangement totaling over $20m|twenty
