The deceased US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who has died at age 84, was considered arguably the most influential holders of that position in US history. Whereas countless VPs were confined to minor or ceremonial functions, Cheney wielded substantial sway during the term of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was commonly referred to as the "real president".
Bush disliked that description and stated the dynamic was more complicated. He observed that Cheney was courteous, invariably addressing him in official appearances as Mr President, while he called him as Dick. Bush questioned even portrayals of their relationship as a team because it suggested that they were equals. Despite these denials, Cheney viewed the laidback president malleable on a wide array of governmental choices.
The Period Following the Attacks
In charge of a faction of conservative hawks that included Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the invasion of Iraq in 2003 in reaction to the September 11th attacks on New York and Washington. At the time of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been taking part in a session at a school in Florida. While Bush made his way to a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, commanding the destruction of any unresponsive aircraft nearing the government building.
Cheney claimed the attacks transformed him, making him become focused on revenge. In conjunction with other neo-conservatives, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a takeover of Afghanistan in an attempt to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the invasion of Iraq, though there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Controversial Policies
He showed no remorse about the military campaign, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, nor about the enhanced interrogation of detainees captured after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was based on faulty information circulated by Cheney, was the proper decision. "It proved to be the right thing to do back then. I had faith at the time and I maintain that stance presently."
However during that period, there were contrary opinions at a high level about the poor management of Iraq. One of the White House's own delegates to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the role. "I witnessed, at the very least," he subsequently stated "true dereliction, carelessness, and recklessness: potentially, lying, unfitness, and dishonesty."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not entirely to blame for the Iraq campaign. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for such action. He had composed a memo setting out scenarios in which national priorities might be compromised (encompassing "obtaining vital raw materials, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "the US should be prepared to take unilateral action when joint efforts cannot be orchestrated," specifically referencing defense operations against Iraq.
Bush also had assumed the White House generally inclined on implementing what his parent had famously refused to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. After he had been fired by the president, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had announced his objective of diminishing America's engagement in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and proposed defense operations against Iraq.
Bush bore a personal grudge against Saddam, thinking he had been behind a conspiracy to murder his father, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He also objected to that one of the most prominent accommodations in Baghdad had a ground design with a image of his parent's visage that everyone had to step on.
Investigation Approaches
But it was Cheney who was one of the most vehement supporting attacking Iraq, consistently quoting agency briefings that were both thin or totally deceptive. He backed what the Bush administration indirectly described as "intensive questioning", the application of simulated drowning and physical pressure.
Responding to a Senate report in 2014 that determined that no useful information had come from the interrogation methods, Cheney dismissed the report as "loaded with crap". He stated to Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to implement measures and establish programmes to apprehend the individuals who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it was not repeated. That was specifically what they did and they deserve a lot of credit."
Public Persona
Cheney enjoyed nicknames assigned to him by critics such as the dark character and the sinister presence, and by the idea that he was a shadow power controlling Bush. In the author's 2013 publication about the duo, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is quoted as saying: "Is it me who is the malevolent mastermind in the corner that remains unseen emerge from his domain? It's a effective way to work, truthfully."
Commercial Ties
Dispute over his business interests followed him through his period as vice-president. Although he had limited background in corporate affairs but strong connections in defence, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's largest petroleum corporations, in 1995 as chairman and top executive.
In 2000 he was selected as Bush's election partner for the presidency. Debatably, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was granted US deals valued at multiple billions.
It made him rich. His annual income during his period at the corporation increased from his quarter-million dollars while military head to over four million. When he left in 2000 he had a compensation package valued at more than $20m|twenty
