The late US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who died at age 84, was considered one of the most powerful occupants of the vice-presidency in American history. Although numerous second-in-commands were limited to minor or symbolic positions, Cheney exercised substantial power during the term of George W Bush, so much so that he was frequently called as the "real president".
Bush resented this portrayal and stated the relationship was more nuanced. He noted that Cheney was deferential, invariably addressing him in public settings as the President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush challenged even descriptions of their relationship as a team because it suggested that they were equals. Despite these denials, Cheney considered the laidback president pliable on a wide array of policy decisions.
The Post-9/11 Era
In charge of a faction of neo-cons that featured Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the invasion of Iraq in 2003 in response to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. At the time of the 9/11 strike, Bush had been attending a meeting at a elementary school in Florida. Whereas Bush traveled to a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, directing the destruction of any unidentified aircraft heading toward the Capitol building.
Cheney said the strikes altered his perspective, making him become focused on revenge. Together with other conservative figures, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a occupation of Afghanistan in an effort to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the military action of Iraq, although there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Disputed Policies
He voiced no apologies about the armed intervention, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis died, nor about the enhanced interrogation of detainees apprehended after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was predicated on inaccurate intelligence echoed by Cheney, was the correct decision. "It was the proper decision to do at that time. I was convinced at the time and I believe it presently."
But even then, there were dissenting voices at a high level about the poor management of Iraq. One of the White House's own special envoys to the Middle East, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the role. "I saw, at a minimum," he subsequently stated "obvious failure, carelessness, and irresponsibility: at worst, falsehoods, incompetence, and corruption."
Broader Context
Cheney was not entirely accountable for the Iraq invasion. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for comparable steps. He had written a document outlining situations in which US concerns might be endangered (encompassing "availability of essential resources, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "America should be positioned to take unilateral action when collective action prove impossible," particularly citing military moves against Iraq.
Bush additionally had entered the presidency vaguely intent on implementing what his parent had notably declined to do in 1991; remove Saddam. After he had been dismissed by the president, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his objective of lowering America's engagement in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and proposed defense operations against Iraq.
Bush carried a private grievance against Saddam, believing he had been involved in a plot to murder his father, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore disliked that one of the biggest establishments in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a portrait of his predecessor's visage that all visitors had to tread upon.
Questioning Techniques
Yet it was Cheney who was part of the most outspoken supporting invading Iraq, repeatedly quoting agency briefings that were both weak or completely misleading. He supported what the Bush administration euphemistically referred to as "enhanced interrogation", the application of waterboarding and torture.
Responding to a Senate document in 2014 that determined that no useful information had been obtained through the interrogation methods, Cheney disregarded the report as "full of crap". He told Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to implement measures and create initiatives to apprehend the individuals who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it was not repeated. That's exactly what they did and they deserve a lot of praise."
Public Persona
Cheney enjoyed monikers imposed on him by critics such as the Star Wars villain and The Prince of Darkness, and by the notion that he was a dark force manipulating Bush. In Peter Baker's 2013 book about the two, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is cited as commenting: "Is it me who is the sinister strategist in the shadows that remains unseen leave his domain? That is a advantageous way to work, actually."
Corporate Connections
Controversy over his business interests pursued him through his period as vice-president. Even though he had little experience in commerce but good contacts in military, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's largest petroleum conglomerates, in 1995 as leader and CEO.
In 2000 he became Bush's VP candidate for the presidency. Debatably, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was awarded US contracts totaling billions.
It made him rich. His annual income during his period at the company grew from his $258,394 during his time as Pentagon chief to millions. When he departed in 2000 he had a compensation package valued at over $20m|twenty
