The late US vice-president Dick Cheney, who died at the age of 84, was considered one of the most powerful holders of that position in US history. While many second-in-commands were confined to peripheral or ceremonial positions, Cheney wielded substantial sway during the presidency of George W Bush, so much so that he was often referred to as the "true president".
Bush resented such a characterisation and said the relationship was more complicated. He observed that Cheney was respectful, consistently referring to him in public as Mr President, while he called him as Dick. Bush questioned even characterisations of their relationship as a partnership because it indicated that they were equals. Regardless of such protestations, Cheney considered the laidback president malleable on a whole raft of administrative determinations.
A Aftermath of 9/11
Leading of a contingent of neo-conservatives that included military head Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the invasion of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. During of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been participating in a meeting at a school in Florida. Whereas Bush made his way to a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, directing the shooting down of any non-communicating planes approaching the Capitol building.
Cheney claimed the assaults transformed him, leading him to become intent on retaliation. Along with other conservative figures, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a occupation of Afghanistan in an effort to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the invasion of Iraq, although 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 lost their lives, and not about the waterboarding of suspects rounded up after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was predicated on inaccurate reports circulated by Cheney, was the proper decision. "It was the correct action to do then. I believed it then and I believe it today."
However even then, there were contrary opinions at a top tier about the botched execution of Iraq. One of the government's own special envoys to the Middle East, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the position. "I saw, at a minimum," he subsequently stated "true dereliction, inaction, and unaccountability: in the worst case, deception, incompetence, and dishonesty."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not completely to blame for the Iraq invasion. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for similar measures. He had written a document detailing circumstances in which national priorities might be threatened (including "access to essential resources, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "the US should be prepared to operate alone when collective action prove impossible," particularly citing armed actions against Iraq.
Bush also had entered the White House somewhat determined on carrying out what his parent had notably declined to do in 1991; remove Saddam. Subsequent to he had been dismissed by the president, the finance chief Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his intention of reducing America's engagement in the regional tensions and proposed military action against Iraq.
Bush held a private grievance against Saddam, thinking he had been involved in a plot to murder his parent, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He also disliked that one of the most prominent hotels in Baghdad had a ground design with a image of his predecessor's visage that everyone had to step on.
Interrogation Methods
Yet it was Cheney who was one of the most outspoken advocating striking Iraq, frequently referencing information documents that were either thin or totally inaccurate. He endorsed what the Bush White House euphemistically referred to as "intensive questioning", the application of waterboarding and torture.
Responding to a Senate document in 2014 that concluded that no useful information had come from the interrogation methods, Cheney disregarded the findings as "riddled with crap". He told Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to take steps and establish programmes to apprehend the bastards who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it never happened again. That is precisely what they did and they merit a lot of praise."
Public Image
Cheney enjoyed monikers imposed on him by opponents such as the dark character and The Prince of Darkness, and by the notion that he was a shadow power manipulating Bush. In Peter Baker's 2013 volume about the duo, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is quoted as saying: "Am I the malevolent mastermind in the shadows that operates invisibly emerge from his lair? It's a effective way to work, actually."
Commercial Ties
Debate over his commercial relationships accompanied him during his tenure as second-in-command. While he had limited background in corporate affairs but good contacts in security, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial energy conglomerates, in 1995 as chair and chief executive.
In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's running mate for the executive branch. Debatably, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was granted US contracts valued at billions.
It significantly boosted his finances. His yearly compensation during his time at the firm rose from his quarter-million dollars when he was military head to $4.4m. When he departed in 2000 he had a compensation package valued at in excess of $20m|twenty
