The deceased US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who passed away at the age of 84, was considered among the most influential holders of that position in American history. Although many vice-presidents were limited to marginal or ceremonial positions, Cheney held substantial power during the administration of George W Bush, to the point that he was often described as the "true president".
Bush resented such a characterisation and said the connection was more complex. He pointed out that Cheney was deferential, consistently addressing him in public settings as Mr President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush questioned even descriptions of their partnership as a collaboration because it suggested that they were equals. Regardless of these objections, Cheney considered the easygoing president accommodating on a wide array of governmental choices.
A Aftermath of 9/11
At the head of a faction of conservative hawks that included Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the invasion of Iraq in 2003 in response to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 strike, Bush had been attending a gathering at a school in Florida. While Bush headed for a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, commanding the shooting down of any unresponsive aircraft heading toward the Capitol building.
Cheney stated the assaults changed him, causing him to be focused on retribution. In conjunction with other neo-cons, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a invasion of Afghanistan in an effort to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then pressed fiercely for the armed intervention of Iraq, though there was little proof of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Debated Decisions
He voiced no apologies about the military campaign, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, and not about the waterboarding of individuals captured after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was based on misleading reports echoed by Cheney, was the correct path to take. "It represented the proper decision to do at that time. I was convinced back then and I hold that view today."
Yet even then, there were contrary opinions at a senior level about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the administration's own delegates to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the post. "I saw, as a baseline," he subsequently stated "obvious failure, carelessness, and irresponsibility: at worst, deception, incompetence, and dishonesty."
Additional Factors
Cheney was not solely responsible for the Iraq military action. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for such action. He had composed a memo setting out scenarios in which national priorities might be endangered (encompassing "access to crucial commodities, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "the US should be positioned to operate alone when collective action prove impossible," explicitly referencing armed actions against Iraq.
Bush also had arrived in the Oval Office somewhat determined on carrying out what his predecessor had famously refused to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. Following he had been fired by the president, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his plan of diminishing America's engagement in the Middle East dispute and mooted armed intervention against Iraq.
Bush held a private grievance against Saddam, believing he had been responsible for a scheme to kill his father, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore resented that one of the biggest hotels in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a image of his predecessor's face that everyone had to step on.
Interrogation Methods
Yet it was Cheney who was among the most vehement supporting invading Iraq, frequently quoting intelligence reports that were whether insubstantial or totally misleading. He backed what the Bush administration indirectly described as "enhanced interrogation", the application of simulated drowning and torture.
Addressing a Senate report in 2014 that found that no useful information had resulted from the torture, Cheney dismissed the report as "riddled with crap". He informed Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to establish protocols and put in place procedures to capture the individuals who took the lives of 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it would not recur. That is precisely what they did and they merit a lot of praise."
External Perception
Cheney reveled in labels given to him by detractors such as Darth Vader and the dark figure, and by the concept that he was a sinister influence directing Bush. In Peter Baker's 2013 book about the two, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is quoted as saying: "Am I the malevolent mastermind in the shadows that remains unseen come out of his domain? It's a advantageous way to function, actually."
Commercial Ties
Debate over his commercial relationships followed him through his period as second-in-command. Although he had minimal expertise in corporate affairs but strong connections in military, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's largest petroleum corporations, in 1995 as chair and top executive.
In 2000 he became Bush's election partner for the presidency. Controversially, during the military campaign, Halliburton was awarded US contracts worth multiple billions.
It made him rich. His yearly compensation during his tenure at the firm increased from his quarter-million dollars while military head to millions. When he departed in 2000 he had a compensation package worth over $20m|twenty
