The late US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who died at the age of 84, was seen as among the most significant occupants of that position in US history. Although many VPs were limited to minor or symbolic functions, Cheney wielded huge influence during the administration of George W Bush, to the point that he was commonly called as the "real president".
Bush resented that description and claimed the relationship was more complicated. He pointed out that Cheney was respectful, consistently addressing him in official appearances as Mr President, while he called him as Dick. Bush disputed even characterisations of their partnership as a team because it suggested that they were equals. Regardless of such protestations, Cheney viewed the laidback president accommodating on a wide array of governmental choices.
The Post-9/11 Era
At the head of a contingent of neo-cons that encompassed military head Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. At the time of the 9/11 assault, Bush had been taking part in a meeting at a elementary school in Florida. While Bush headed for a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney took command, directing the destruction of any non-communicating aircraft approaching the government building.
Cheney stated the attacks changed him, leading him to become focused on retribution. In conjunction with other neo-cons, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a invasion of Afghanistan in an effort to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the armed intervention of Iraq, though there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein playing a role.
Debated Actions
He showed no remorse about the armed intervention, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis perished, and not about the enhanced interrogation of detainees rounded up after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was predicated on faulty information circulated by Cheney, was the proper path to take. "It represented the right thing to do then. I had faith then and I hold that view today."
But during that period, there were dissenting voices at a top tier about the botched execution of Iraq. One of the White House's own delegates to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the role. "I saw, at a minimum," he wrote later "obvious failure, carelessness, and irresponsibility: in the worst case, falsehoods, incompetence, and corruption."
Additional Factors
Cheney was not solely responsible for the Iraq campaign. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for similar measures. He had written a memo outlining scenarios in which American interests might be endangered (encompassing "obtaining vital raw materials, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "the US should be prepared to act independently when collective action cannot be arranged," specifically referencing defense operations against Iraq.
Bush additionally had arrived in the Oval Office vaguely intent on implementing what his father had notably declined to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. Following he had been fired by the administration, the treasury secretary 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 involvement in the regional tensions and mooted military action against Iraq.
Bush carried a personal grudge against Saddam, convinced he had been behind a conspiracy to murder his parent, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He also resented that one of the largest hotels in Baghdad had a floor mural with a likeness of his predecessor's countenance that all visitors had to step on.
Interrogation Methods
But it was Cheney who was among the most vociferous behind striking Iraq, consistently citing intelligence reports that were both thin or completely misleading. He endorsed what the Bush White House indirectly described as "enhanced interrogation", the use of waterboarding and harsh treatment.
Responding to a Senate analysis in 2014 that concluded that no useful information had been obtained through the interrogation methods, Cheney dismissed the conclusions as "riddled with crap". He stated to Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to take steps and create procedures to apprehend the individuals who took the lives of 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it was not repeated. That's exactly what they did and they deserve a lot of credit."
Public Image
Cheney reveled in monikers imposed on him by opponents such as the dark character and the dark figure, and by the concept that he was a shadow power directing Bush. In Peter Baker's 2013 book about the duo, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is cited as commenting: "Do I represent the evil genius in the shadows that remains unseen emerge from his domain? It's a effective way to operate, actually."
Business Interests
Debate over his corporate affiliations followed him during his tenure as second-in-command. While he had little experience in business but good contacts in defence, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's biggest oil and gas conglomerates, in 1995 as chair and chief executive.
In 2000 he became Bush's election partner for the White House. Controversially, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was granted US contracts totaling billions.
It made him rich. His annual income during his tenure at the company rose from his quarter-million dollars when he was military head to over four million. When he left in 2000 he had a package worth in excess of $20m|twenty
