The late US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who died at age 84, was seen as among the most influential occupants of that office in US history. Although many vice-presidents had to settle for minor or symbolic roles, Cheney held enormous sway during the presidency of George W Bush, so much so that he was commonly referred to as the "real president".
Bush objected to such a characterisation and claimed the connection was more nuanced. He pointed out that Cheney was courteous, invariably calling him in public as President, while he called him as Dick. Bush questioned even descriptions of their association as a partnership because it suggested that they were equals. Regardless of such protestations, Cheney considered the relaxed president accommodating on a wide array of governmental choices.
The Period Following the Attacks
In charge of a faction of neo-cons that encompassed Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the military intervention of Iraq in 2003 in response to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been attending a session at a school in Florida. Whereas Bush headed for a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, commanding the destruction of any unresponsive airplanes heading toward the government building.
Cheney said the attacks altered his perspective, causing him to be intent on retribution. Together with other neo-cons, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a takeover of Afghanistan in an endeavor to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the armed intervention of Iraq, though there was little proof of Saddam Hussein playing a role.
Debated Policies
He showed no remorse about the armed intervention, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis perished, or about the harsh treatment of individuals apprehended after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was based on inaccurate reports echoed by Cheney, was the correct course of action. "It represented the right thing to do at that time. I had faith at the time and I believe it presently."
Yet even at the time, there were contrary opinions at a top tier about the poor management of Iraq. One of the government's own special envoys to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the post. "I saw, at a minimum," he wrote later "obvious failure, carelessness, and unaccountability: at worst, deception, incompetence, and dishonesty."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not solely to blame for the Iraq campaign. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for similar measures. He had drafted a memorandum outlining circumstances in which US concerns might be threatened (featuring "availability of essential resources, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "the United States should be prepared to act independently when cooperative measures cannot be arranged," explicitly referencing armed actions against Iraq.
Bush too had arrived in the Oval Office vaguely intent on carrying out what his father had famously refused to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. Following he had been fired by the White House, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had announced his intention of lowering America's engagement in the regional tensions and suggested armed intervention against Iraq.
Bush carried a individual resentment against Saddam, convinced he had been behind a plot to kill his parent, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore objected to that one of the biggest establishments in Baghdad had a floor mural with a image of his predecessor's countenance that each person had to tread upon.
Interrogation Methods
But it was Cheney who was one of the most vehement advocating striking Iraq, repeatedly citing intelligence reports that were either insubstantial or completely deceptive. He endorsed what the Bush administration politely called as "intensive questioning", the application of simulated drowning and torture.
Answering a Senate report in 2014 that determined that no actionable intelligence had resulted from the interrogation methods, Cheney disregarded the report as "loaded with crap". He stated to Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to establish protocols and establish initiatives to apprehend the bastards who took the lives of 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it would not recur. That was specifically what they did and they merit a lot of recognition."
Public Image
Cheney took pleasure in monikers given to him by opponents such as Darth Vader and the sinister presence, and by the notion that he was a shadow power directing Bush. In Peter Baker's 2013 publication about the two, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is reported as stating: "Do I represent the malevolent mastermind in the corner that remains unseen emerge from his hole? It's a effective way to function, actually."
Corporate Connections
Dispute over his commercial relationships followed him through his period as second-in-command. Even though he had minimal expertise in commerce but established relationships in military, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial energy corporations, in 1995 as chair and top executive.
In 2000 he was selected as Bush's election partner for the White House. Controversially, during the military campaign, Halliburton was awarded US agreements valued at billions.
It greatly increased his wealth. His yearly compensation during his period at the corporation increased from his $258,394 when he was military head to $4.4m. When he left in 2000 he had a severance arrangement totaling over $20m|twenty
