The late US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who passed away at the age of 84, was seen as one of the most influential holders of that office in American history. Although countless vice-presidents were limited to minor or ceremonial roles, Cheney held substantial power during the administration of George W Bush, so much so that he was frequently described as the "true president".
Bush resented that description and claimed the dynamic was more nuanced. He observed that Cheney was deferential, always addressing him in official appearances as President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush disputed even descriptions of their association as a partnership because it indicated that they were on equal footing. Regardless of these objections, Cheney considered the easygoing president accommodating on a broad range of policy decisions.
The Period Following the Attacks
Leading of a faction of conservative hawks that included military head Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. During of the 9/11 assault, Bush had been attending a session at a educational institution in Florida. Whereas Bush made his way to a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, ordering the downing of any non-communicating planes approaching the US Capitol.
Cheney claimed the assaults altered his perspective, making him become determined on retaliation. Together with other neo-cons, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a occupation of Afghanistan in an endeavor to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then pressed fiercely for the military action of Iraq, although there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Controversial Policies
He showed no remorse about the armed intervention, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis perished, nor about the enhanced interrogation of suspects apprehended after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was based on misleading reports echoed by Cheney, was the right path to take. "It proved to be the right thing to do then. I was convinced then and I maintain that stance now."
But even at the time, there were opposing views at a top tier about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the White House's own delegates to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the role. "I observed, at a minimum," he subsequently stated "true dereliction, carelessness, and unaccountability: potentially, deception, ineptitude, and corruption."
Broader Context
Cheney was not entirely to blame for the Iraq invasion. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for similar measures. He had drafted a document setting out situations in which national priorities might be endangered (including "availability of essential resources, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "the US should be positioned to take unilateral action when cooperative measures cannot be orchestrated," explicitly citing defense operations against Iraq.
Bush too had entered the White House somewhat determined on executing what his father had notably declined to do in 1991; topple Saddam. After he had been fired by the administration, the finance chief Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his objective of reducing America's engagement in the Middle East dispute and proposed armed intervention against Iraq.
Bush bore a individual resentment against Saddam, believing he had been involved in a scheme to assassinate his parent, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He also resented that one of the largest establishments in Baghdad had a ground design with a portrait of his predecessor's visage that everyone had to tread upon.
Questioning Techniques
Yet it was Cheney who was part of the most vehement behind invading Iraq, consistently referencing agency briefings that were both insubstantial or entirely misleading. He backed what the Bush White House politely called as "advanced techniques", the employment of simulated drowning and physical pressure.
Responding to a Senate document in 2014 that determined that no useful information had been obtained through the harsh techniques, Cheney dismissed the findings as "loaded with crap". He stated to Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to establish protocols and create programmes to apprehend the individuals who took the lives of 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it never happened again. That's exactly what they did and they earn a lot of recognition."
Public Image
Cheney reveled in nicknames assigned to him by opponents such as the dark character and the dark figure, and by the concept that he was a sinister influence manipulating Bush. In the author's 2013 volume about the two, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is reported as stating: "Do I represent the evil genius in the corner that remains unseen emerge from his hole? That is a advantageous way to work, truthfully."
Corporate Connections
Debate over his business interests pursued him through his period as second-in-command. While he had limited background in corporate affairs but good contacts in defence, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial petroleum conglomerates, in 1995 as leader and CEO.
In 2000 he was selected as Bush's running mate for the presidency. Contentiously, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was given US agreements valued at multiple billions.
It made him rich. His annual income during his period at the company grew from his $258,394 while defence secretary to millions. When he departed in 2000 he had a severance arrangement valued at in excess of $20m|twenty
