The deceased US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who passed away at the age of 84, was considered one of the most powerful holders of the vice-presidency in the nation's history. While countless VPs were limited to peripheral or symbolic functions, Cheney exercised substantial sway during the administration of George W Bush, so much so that he was often referred to as the "real president".
Bush disliked such a characterisation and stated the dynamic was more complicated. He noted that Cheney was courteous, always calling him in public settings as the President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush disputed even descriptions of their association as a team because it indicated that they were peers. Regardless of these objections, Cheney considered the laidback president malleable on a broad range of administrative determinations.
The Post-9/11 Era
At the head of a group of neo-conservatives that encompassed defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the military intervention of Iraq in 2003 in reaction to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. During of the 9/11 assault, Bush had been participating in a gathering at a educational institution in Florida. While Bush headed for a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, commanding the destruction of any unresponsive aircraft approaching the Capitol building.
Cheney claimed the assaults changed him, leading him to become determined on retribution. Together with other conservative figures, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a invasion of Afghanistan in an endeavor to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the armed intervention of Iraq, even though there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein having involvement.
Debated Actions
He expressed no regrets about the military campaign, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, nor about the harsh treatment of suspects apprehended after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was based on inaccurate reports repeated by Cheney, was the right decision. "It proved to be the right thing to do then. I believed it back then and I believe it today."
But during that period, there were contrary opinions at a senior level about the botched execution of Iraq. One of the White House's own special envoys to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the role. "I observed, at a minimum," he wrote later "obvious failure, inaction, and recklessness: at worst, lying, ineptitude, and graft."
Broader Context
Cheney was not completely accountable for the Iraq military action. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for such action. He had drafted a memo detailing scenarios in which national priorities might be threatened (featuring "access to crucial commodities, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "the United States should be positioned to operate alone when joint efforts prove impossible," explicitly mentioning military moves against Iraq.
Bush too had entered the presidency somewhat determined on carrying out what his predecessor had notably declined to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. Following he had been sacked by the White House, the finance chief Paul O'Neill disclosed how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his intention of lowering America's participation in the Middle East dispute and mooted military action against Iraq.
Bush bore a personal grudge against Saddam, thinking he had been behind a scheme to murder his parent, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He also objected to that one of the most prominent establishments in Baghdad had a ground design with a portrait of his predecessor's visage that all visitors had to step on.
Investigation Approaches
Yet it was Cheney who was part of the most vociferous behind attacking Iraq, consistently quoting intelligence reports that were both insubstantial or totally inaccurate. He supported what the Bush White House politely called as "enhanced interrogation", the use of simulated drowning and torture.
Responding to a Senate document in 2014 that found that no actionable intelligence had come from the harsh techniques, Cheney rejected the findings as "loaded with crap". He stated to Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to implement measures and create programmes to apprehend the bastards who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it would not recur. That is precisely what they did and they merit a lot of praise."
Public Persona
Cheney reveled in nicknames assigned to him by opponents such as the Star Wars villain and the dark figure, and by the idea that he was a dark force manipulating Bush. In the journalist'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 sinister strategist in the shadows that operates invisibly emerge from his hole? It's a nice way to function, in fact."
Commercial Ties
Dispute over his corporate affiliations accompanied him during his tenure as VP. Even though he had limited background in commerce but strong connections in security, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's biggest oil and gas corporations, in 1995 as leader and chief executive.
In 2000 he became Bush's VP candidate for the presidency. Contentiously, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was granted US deals worth substantial sums.
It significantly boosted his finances. His yearly compensation during his period at the corporation increased from his quarter-million dollars when he was Pentagon chief to over four million. When he departed in 2000 he had a compensation package valued at more than $20m|twenty
