The late US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who died at the age of 84, was regarded as one of the most powerful occupants of the vice-presidency in US history. While countless second-in-commands were limited to marginal or ceremonial functions, Cheney exercised huge influence during the presidency of George W Bush, to the point that he was commonly described as the "true president".
Bush disliked such a characterisation and said the connection was more nuanced. He observed that Cheney was courteous, consistently calling him in public as the President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush questioned even portrayals of their association as a partnership because it implied that they were peers. Regardless of these denials, Cheney found the easygoing president pliable on a whole raft of policy decisions.
A Post-9/11 Era
Leading of a faction of neo-cons that included military head Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the military intervention of Iraq in 2003 in reaction to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. At the time of the 9/11 strike, Bush had been attending a meeting at a school in Florida. Whereas Bush headed for a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, ordering the shooting down of any non-communicating airplanes approaching the US Capitol.
Cheney said the assaults altered his perspective, leading him to become focused on retaliation. Along with other neo-conservatives, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a takeover of Afghanistan in an endeavor to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the armed intervention of Iraq, although there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Disputed Decisions
He showed no remorse about the military campaign, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis died, and not about the waterboarding of suspects captured after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was based on faulty information repeated by Cheney, was the correct decision. "It proved to be the correct action to do back then. I believed it at the time and I believe it presently."
Yet even then, there were contrary opinions at a high level about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the government's own special envoys to the Middle East, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the role. "I observed, as a baseline," he subsequently stated "true dereliction, negligence, and irresponsibility: at worst, falsehoods, ineptitude, and dishonesty."
Broader Context
Cheney was not completely accountable for the Iraq campaign. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for such action. He had written a memorandum outlining scenarios in which national priorities might be threatened (featuring "obtaining crucial commodities, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "the US should be postured to act independently when cooperative measures prove impossible," specifically mentioning military moves against Iraq.
Bush additionally had assumed the presidency somewhat determined on executing what his predecessor had specifically avoided to do in 1991; remove Saddam. Subsequent to he had been dismissed by the White House, the finance chief Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the first meeting of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his intention of reducing America's engagement in the Middle East dispute and mooted defense operations against Iraq.
Bush bore a private grievance against Saddam, convinced he had been responsible for a scheme to murder his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore disliked that one of the largest accommodations in Baghdad had a ground design with a portrait of his father's visage that each person had to walk over.
Questioning Techniques
However it was Cheney who was among the most outspoken advocating invading Iraq, consistently citing agency briefings that were whether weak or completely deceptive. He endorsed what the Bush White House politely called as "enhanced interrogation", the application of interrogation method and physical pressure.
Answering a Senate report in 2014 that concluded that no useful information had resulted from the interrogation methods, Cheney rejected the report as "loaded with crap". He stated to Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to take steps and establish programmes to catch the bastards who took the lives of 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it was not repeated. That is precisely what they did and they earn a lot of recognition."
Public Image
Cheney reveled in monikers given to him by critics such as Darth Vader and the sinister presence, and by the notion that he was a sinister influence manipulating Bush. In the journalist's 2013 publication about the pair, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is quoted as saying: "Is it me who is the evil genius in the background that nobody ever sees emerge from his lair? It's a nice way to work, truthfully."
Business Interests
Controversy over his commercial relationships pursued him during his tenure as vice-president. While he had minimal expertise in commerce but established relationships in military, particularly 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 top executive.
In 2000 he became Bush's election partner for the White House. Debatably, during the military campaign, Halliburton was awarded US contracts worth billions.
It greatly increased his wealth. His yearly earnings during his time at the company increased from his quarter-million dollars when he was military head to millions. When he departed in 2000 he had a compensation package totaling over $20m|twenty
