The late US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who died at age 84, was seen as one of the most influential occupants of that position in American history. Although many vice-presidents had to settle for peripheral or ceremonial positions, Cheney wielded enormous influence during the presidency of George W Bush, to the point that he was commonly referred to as the "real president".
Bush resented such a characterisation and claimed the dynamic was more nuanced. He observed that Cheney was courteous, invariably addressing him in public settings as President, while he called him as Dick. Bush disputed even characterisations of their association as a collaboration because it indicated that they were peers. In spite of such protestations, Cheney viewed the relaxed president malleable on a wide array of governmental choices.
A Aftermath of 9/11
In charge of a group of neo-conservatives that included military head Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the military intervention of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the September 11th attacks on New York and Washington. During of the 9/11 strike, Bush had been participating in a meeting at a school in Florida. As Bush traveled to a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney took command, ordering the destruction of any non-communicating aircraft heading toward the Capitol building.
Cheney claimed the strikes changed him, leading him to become intent on revenge. In conjunction with other neo-conservatives, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a occupation of Afghanistan in an endeavor to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then pressed fiercely for the armed intervention of Iraq, although there was little proof of Saddam Hussein having involvement.
Debated Decisions
He voiced no apologies about the invasion, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, or about the waterboarding of individuals rounded up after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was based on misleading intelligence repeated by Cheney, was the right decision. "It was the right thing to do then. I had faith at the time and I maintain that stance now."
However during that period, there were contrary opinions at a top tier about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the White House's own representatives to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the post. "I saw, at a minimum," he wrote later "clear negligence, negligence, and irresponsibility: in the worst case, deception, incompetence, and graft."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not solely to blame for the Iraq military action. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for such action. He had drafted a memo detailing situations in which American interests might be compromised (including "obtaining crucial commodities, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "the US should be postured to operate alone when cooperative measures prove impossible," explicitly referencing armed actions against Iraq.
Bush also had assumed the presidency somewhat determined on executing what his parent had notably declined to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. Subsequent to he had been fired by the administration, the finance chief Paul O'Neill disclosed how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his objective of lowering America's engagement in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and proposed armed intervention against Iraq.
Bush held a personal grudge against Saddam, convinced he had been responsible for a scheme to kill his father, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He also disliked that one of the largest establishments in Baghdad had a ground design with a image of his father's visage that each person had to step on.
Interrogation Methods
However it was Cheney who was among the most vehement behind striking Iraq, consistently citing information documents that were whether weak or entirely misleading. He backed what the Bush White House euphemistically referred to as "intensive questioning", the use of simulated drowning and harsh treatment.
Addressing a Senate document in 2014 that found that no useful information had resulted from the torture, Cheney dismissed the conclusions as "full of crap". He told Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to establish protocols and establish initiatives to catch the bastards who murdered 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 reveled in monikers imposed on him by opponents such as the dark character and The Prince of Darkness, and by the notion that he was a dark force 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 sinister strategist in the background that remains unseen emerge from his hole? That is a advantageous way to operate, in fact."
Corporate Connections
Dispute over his corporate affiliations followed him throughout his time as VP. While he had limited background in corporate affairs but established relationships in security, 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. Contentiously, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was given US agreements totaling multiple billions.
It significantly boosted his finances. His yearly earnings during his tenure at the corporation increased from his quarter-million dollars during his time as Pentagon chief to over four million. When he resigned in 2000 he had a compensation package totaling in excess of $20m|twenty
