The late US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who died at the age of 84, was regarded as one of the most powerful incumbents of the vice-presidency in the nation's history. While countless second-in-commands were limited to peripheral or ceremonial functions, Cheney exercised enormous sway during the administration of George W Bush, to the point that he was often referred to as the "true president".
Bush disliked this portrayal and said the relationship was more complex. He noted that Cheney was courteous, consistently addressing him in public as the President, while he called him as Dick. Bush disputed even characterisations of their relationship as a partnership because it suggested that they were on equal footing. Regardless of these denials, Cheney viewed the laidback president malleable on a whole raft of administrative determinations.
The Post-9/11 Era
At the head of a group of neo-cons that featured military head Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the military intervention of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the September 11th attacks on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been taking part in a gathering at a school in Florida. As Bush headed for a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, commanding the shooting down of any unidentified aircraft approaching the Capitol building.
Cheney claimed the assaults altered his perspective, causing him to be focused on retribution. Together with other neo-conservatives, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a takeover of Afghanistan in an attempt to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then pressed fiercely for the military action of Iraq, though there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein having involvement.
Debated Policies
He expressed no regrets about the invasion, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, nor about the waterboarding of suspects rounded up after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was predicated on misleading intelligence circulated by Cheney, was the proper course of action. "It proved to be the proper decision to do at that time. I had faith at the time and I hold that view presently."
But even then, there were opposing views at a senior level about the botched execution of Iraq. One of the White House's own special envoys to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the post. "I witnessed, as a baseline," he later wrote "clear negligence, inaction, and recklessness: in the worst case, lying, ineptitude, and corruption."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not entirely to blame for the Iraq campaign. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for similar measures. He had composed a memorandum setting out scenarios in which national priorities might be compromised (encompassing "availability of crucial commodities, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "the US should be postured to operate alone when joint efforts cannot be orchestrated," explicitly citing armed actions against Iraq.
Bush additionally had assumed the Oval Office somewhat determined on executing what his parent had famously refused to do in 1991; topple Saddam. Following he had been sacked by the White House, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill disclosed how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had announced his plan of diminishing America's participation in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and mooted military action against Iraq.
Bush bore a personal grudge against Saddam, believing he had been behind a scheme to murder his parent, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore objected to that one of the most prominent hotels in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a image of his predecessor's visage that everyone had to walk over.
Interrogation Methods
But it was Cheney who was one of the most vociferous behind invading Iraq, consistently quoting agency briefings that were whether weak or completely misleading. He supported what the Bush government politely called as "enhanced interrogation", the application of waterboarding and harsh treatment.
Answering a Senate document in 2014 that found that no actionable intelligence had been obtained through the torture, Cheney rejected the findings as "loaded with crap". He told Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to implement measures and put in place initiatives to catch the bastards who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it would not recur. That is precisely what they did and they merit a lot of credit."
External Perception
Cheney reveled in labels given to him by detractors such as the Star Wars villain and The Prince of Darkness, and by the idea that he was a shadow power directing Bush. In the journalist's 2013 book about the duo, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is cited as commenting: "Am I the evil genius in the corner that remains unseen leave his domain? That is a effective way to function, in fact."
Business Interests
Controversy over his commercial relationships pursued him through his period as vice-president. While he had limited background in corporate affairs but established relationships in military, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's largest oil and gas conglomerates, in 1995 as chair and CEO.
In 2000 he was selected as Bush's election partner for the White House. Debatably, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was granted US contracts valued at substantial sums.
It significantly boosted his finances. His annual income during his tenure at the firm rose from his quarter-million dollars during his time as Pentagon chief to over four million. When he departed in 2000 he had a compensation package valued at more than $20m|twenty
