The deceased US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who died at age 84, was considered among the most significant incumbents of that position in American history. Whereas many vice-presidents had to settle for minor or symbolic functions, Cheney wielded substantial sway during the administration of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was commonly referred to as the "true president".
Bush resented this portrayal and said the relationship was more nuanced. He observed that Cheney was respectful, always addressing him in public as Mr President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush challenged even descriptions of their relationship as a team because it suggested that they were peers. Despite these objections, Cheney found the relaxed president accommodating on a broad range of policy decisions.
The Period Following the Attacks
Leading of a contingent of conservative hawks that encompassed defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the invasion of Iraq in 2003 in reaction to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 strike, Bush had been attending a meeting at a educational institution in Florida. Whereas Bush made his way to a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, directing the destruction of any non-communicating aircraft heading toward the US Capitol.
Cheney said the attacks changed him, making him become intent on retaliation. Together with other neo-cons, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a occupation of Afghanistan in an effort to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the armed intervention of Iraq, even though there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein having involvement.
Controversial Policies
He expressed no regrets about the invasion, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis died, and not about the enhanced interrogation of individuals apprehended after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was based on misleading reports repeated by Cheney, was the proper path to take. "It represented the correct action to do at that time. I believed it at the time and I maintain that stance now."
Yet even then, there were opposing views at a top tier about the botched execution of Iraq. One of the administration's own representatives to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the post. "I saw, at the very least," he later wrote "obvious failure, inaction, and recklessness: in the worst case, deception, unfitness, and corruption."
Broader Context
Cheney was not entirely accountable for the Iraq invasion. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for such action. He had written a document detailing circumstances in which American interests might be threatened (including "obtaining essential resources, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "America should be positioned to act independently when collective action prove impossible," explicitly citing defense operations against Iraq.
Bush too had entered the presidency generally inclined on executing what his parent had famously refused to do in 1991; topple Saddam. After he had been dismissed by the administration, the finance chief Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the first meeting of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his intention of lowering America's engagement in the regional tensions and suggested armed intervention against Iraq.
Bush held a personal grudge against Saddam, thinking he had been behind a scheme to kill his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore disliked that one of the largest establishments in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a image of his parent's visage that all visitors had to tread upon.
Interrogation Methods
Yet it was Cheney who was one of the most outspoken supporting invading Iraq, frequently citing information documents that were whether thin or entirely misleading. He supported what the Bush government euphemistically referred to as "advanced techniques", the use of waterboarding and physical pressure.
Addressing a Senate document in 2014 that found that no useful information had been obtained through the interrogation methods, Cheney disregarded the conclusions as "full of crap". He informed Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to take steps and create programmes to apprehend the bastards who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it would not recur. That is precisely what they did and they merit a lot of recognition."
Public Image
Cheney enjoyed nicknames imposed on him by critics such as Darth Vader and The Prince of Darkness, and by the concept that he was a shadow power directing Bush. In the journalist's 2013 publication about the two, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is cited as commenting: "Is it me who is the sinister strategist in the corner that nobody ever sees emerge from his domain? That is a nice way to function, in fact."
Business Interests
Dispute over his corporate affiliations accompanied him during his tenure as vice-president. While he had minimal expertise in corporate affairs but strong connections in security, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial energy conglomerates, in 1995 as chairman and CEO.
In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's election partner for the White House. Controversially, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was awarded US agreements valued at billions.
It greatly increased his wealth. His annual income during his period at the corporation grew from his quarter-million dollars while Pentagon chief to $4.4m. When he departed in 2000 he had a compensation package worth over $20m|twenty
