The former US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who died at age 84, was seen as one of the most powerful incumbents of the vice-presidency in US history. Although many second-in-commands had to settle for minor or symbolic positions, Cheney held substantial power during the presidency of George W Bush, so much so that he was frequently described as the "real president".
Bush objected to that description and claimed the dynamic was more nuanced. He noted that Cheney was deferential, invariably addressing him in public settings as Mr President, while he called him as Dick. Bush disputed even portrayals of their partnership as a collaboration because it suggested that they were on equal footing. In spite of these objections, Cheney considered the laidback president accommodating on a wide array of policy decisions.
A Aftermath of 9/11
At the head of a group of neo-conservatives that included military head Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the military intervention of Iraq in 2003 in reaction to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. At the time of the 9/11 strike, Bush had been attending a meeting at a elementary school in Florida. Whereas Bush made his way to a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, commanding the destruction of any non-communicating planes nearing the government building.
Cheney said the strikes transformed him, making him become intent on retaliation. Together with other conservative figures, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a takeover of Afghanistan in an attempt to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the military action of Iraq, even though there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein having involvement.
Debated Actions
He showed no remorse about the armed intervention, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis died, nor about the enhanced interrogation of detainees captured after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was predicated on inaccurate reports echoed by Cheney, was the right path to take. "It represented the proper decision to do back then. I was convinced then and I believe it now."
However even at the time, there were contrary opinions at a top tier about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the government's own delegates to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the role. "I observed, at a minimum," he wrote later "true dereliction, inaction, and recklessness: in the worst case, falsehoods, unfitness, and corruption."
Additional Factors
Cheney was not solely to blame for the Iraq invasion. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for such action. He had drafted a memorandum outlining situations in which US concerns might be endangered (encompassing "access to crucial commodities, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "the United States should be prepared to act independently when cooperative measures prove impossible," particularly mentioning armed actions against Iraq.
Bush too had entered the presidency vaguely intent on executing what his parent had specifically avoided to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. Following he had been dismissed by the White House, the finance chief Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the first meeting of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his plan of reducing America's engagement in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and suggested armed intervention against Iraq.
Bush bore a individual resentment against Saddam, thinking he had been involved in a conspiracy to assassinate his father, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He also disliked that one of the biggest accommodations in Baghdad had a floor mural with a likeness of his predecessor's visage that everyone had to walk over.
Questioning Techniques
But it was Cheney who was part of the most outspoken advocating invading Iraq, repeatedly quoting information documents that were either insubstantial or entirely deceptive. He endorsed what the Bush White House euphemistically referred to as "advanced techniques", the use of waterboarding and torture.
Addressing a Senate report in 2014 that determined that no useful information had been obtained through the torture, Cheney rejected the conclusions as "riddled with crap". He stated to Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to establish protocols and establish initiatives to catch the perpetrators who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it was not repeated. That is precisely what they did and they earn a lot of credit."
Public Image
Cheney took pleasure in monikers given to him by opponents such as Darth Vader and the dark figure, and by the notion that he was a dark force directing Bush. In Peter Baker's 2013 book about the pair, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is quoted as saying: "Is it me who is the sinister strategist in the shadows that remains unseen emerge from his hole? That is a effective way to function, in fact."
Business Interests
Dispute over his commercial relationships accompanied him through his period as VP. Even though he had little experience in business but strong connections in defence, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial oil and gas conglomerates, in 1995 as chair and chief executive.
In 2000 he became Bush's VP candidate for the presidency. Debatably, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was granted US agreements totaling multiple billions.
It greatly increased his wealth. His yearly earnings during his period at the corporation increased from his quarter-million dollars while defence secretary to millions. When he left in 2000 he had a compensation package valued at over $20m|twenty
