The former US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who passed away at age 84, was seen as arguably the most significant occupants of that position in US history. While countless vice-presidents were confined to peripheral or symbolic roles, Cheney exercised substantial sway during the presidency of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was commonly called as the "real president".
Bush disliked this portrayal and stated the dynamic was more complex. He noted that Cheney was respectful, always calling him in official appearances as President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush questioned even characterisations of their association as a collaboration because it suggested that they were equals. In spite of these denials, Cheney found the relaxed president malleable on a broad range of administrative determinations.
The Aftermath of 9/11
In charge of a group of conservative hawks that included Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in response to the September 11th attacks on New York and Washington. At the time of the 9/11 strike, Bush had been taking part in a meeting at a educational institution in Florida. While Bush made his way to a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, directing the destruction of any unresponsive aircraft heading toward the Capitol building.
Cheney claimed the assaults altered his perspective, leading him to become intent on retaliation. Together with other conservative figures, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a takeover of Afghanistan in an effort to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the armed intervention of Iraq, although there was little proof of Saddam Hussein playing a role.
Debated Policies
He voiced no apologies about the military campaign, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis perished, or about the enhanced interrogation of suspects captured after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was founded on inaccurate intelligence echoed by Cheney, was the proper decision. "It was the proper decision to do then. I had faith then and I maintain that stance presently."
But even then, there were opposing views at a high level about the poor management of Iraq. One of the administration's own special envoys to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the role. "I saw, as a baseline," he wrote later "clear negligence, carelessness, and irresponsibility: in the worst case, lying, unfitness, and dishonesty."
Broader Context
Cheney was not completely responsible for the Iraq campaign. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for such action. He had drafted a document detailing circumstances in which American interests might be compromised (encompassing "access to vital raw materials, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "the US should be positioned to operate alone when cooperative measures cannot be arranged," particularly referencing military moves against Iraq.
Bush also had assumed the presidency somewhat determined on implementing what his father had famously refused to do in 1991; remove Saddam. Following he had been sacked by the White House, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his intention of reducing America's involvement in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and suggested defense operations against Iraq.
Bush held a personal grudge against Saddam, believing he had been behind a scheme to murder his parent, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally resented that one of the biggest accommodations in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a likeness of his predecessor's face that all visitors had to tread upon.
Investigation Approaches
Yet it was Cheney who was part of the most vehement supporting invading Iraq, repeatedly citing intelligence reports that were either thin or totally inaccurate. He supported what the Bush government euphemistically referred to as "enhanced interrogation", the application of waterboarding and harsh treatment.
Answering a Senate report in 2014 that concluded that no actionable intelligence had come from the interrogation methods, Cheney rejected the findings as "loaded with crap". He told Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to establish protocols and create initiatives to apprehend the bastards who took the lives of 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it was not repeated. That was specifically what they did and they earn a lot of credit."
Public Image
Cheney enjoyed labels imposed on him by opponents such as Darth Vader and the sinister presence, and by the notion that he was a sinister influence manipulating Bush. In the author's 2013 volume about the duo, 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 operates invisibly come out of his hole? It's a advantageous way to function, actually."
Commercial Ties
Controversy over his business interests pursued him during his tenure as second-in-command. Although he had little experience in business but good contacts in defence, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's biggest oil and gas companies, in 1995 as chairman and chief executive.
In 2000 he became Bush's running mate for the White House. Controversially, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was granted US contracts worth substantial sums.
It greatly increased his wealth. His yearly compensation during his time at the company grew from his previous salary while Pentagon chief to $4.4m. When he left in 2000 he had a package totaling more than $20m|twenty
