The deceased US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who has died at the age of 84, was seen as one of the most significant incumbents of that office in American history. Whereas countless VPs were confined to marginal or ceremonial roles, Cheney exercised substantial power during the presidency of George W Bush, so much so that he was frequently called as the "real president".
Bush resented this portrayal and stated the connection was more complicated. He observed that Cheney was respectful, always addressing him in public settings as President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush questioned even characterisations of their association as a team because it indicated that they were on equal footing. Despite these objections, Cheney found the relaxed president malleable on a whole raft of governmental choices.
The Post-9/11 Era
In charge of a contingent of conservative hawks that encompassed defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the military intervention of Iraq in 2003 in response to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. At the time of the 9/11 strike, Bush had been taking part in a session at a elementary school in Florida. As Bush traveled to a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, directing the downing of any unidentified planes heading toward the Capitol building.
Cheney said the strikes altered his perspective, leading him to become focused on revenge. Together with other neo-conservatives, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a invasion of Afghanistan in an effort to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the military action of Iraq, although there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein having involvement.
Controversial Decisions
He expressed no regrets about the military campaign, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, and not about the enhanced interrogation of detainees apprehended after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was based on inaccurate reports circulated by Cheney, was the correct decision. "It was the right thing to do at that time. I was convinced at the time and I believe it now."
But even at the time, there were dissenting voices at a senior level about the botched execution of Iraq. One of the government's own special envoys to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the post. "I witnessed, at the very least," he later wrote "obvious failure, carelessness, and unaccountability: at worst, lying, incompetence, and graft."
Broader Context
Cheney was not completely to blame for the Iraq invasion. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for such action. He had written a document detailing circumstances in which national priorities might be threatened (including "access to vital raw materials, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "America should be postured to take unilateral action when joint efforts cannot be orchestrated," particularly citing military moves against Iraq.
Bush also had arrived in the Oval Office vaguely intent on implementing what his parent had notably declined to do in 1991; topple Saddam. After he had been sacked by the president, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had announced his plan of lowering America's involvement in the Middle East dispute and proposed defense operations against Iraq.
Bush carried a private grievance against Saddam, thinking he had been involved in a conspiracy to kill his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore resented that one of the largest accommodations in Baghdad had a ground design with a portrait of his father's countenance that all visitors had to walk over.
Interrogation Methods
Yet it was Cheney who was among the most vociferous behind invading Iraq, repeatedly referencing agency briefings that were either thin or entirely misleading. He supported what the Bush White House politely called as "intensive questioning", the employment of waterboarding and torture.
Addressing a Senate report in 2014 that determined that no actionable intelligence had resulted from the interrogation methods, Cheney rejected the conclusions as "full of crap". He stated to Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to implement measures and put in place programmes to capture the individuals who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it would not recur. That is precisely what they did and they merit a lot of credit."
Public Image
Cheney reveled in nicknames given to him by opponents such as the Star Wars villain and The Prince of Darkness, and by the notion that he was a sinister influence directing Bush. In Peter Baker's 2013 volume about the two, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is cited as commenting: "Is it me who is the malevolent mastermind in the corner that operates invisibly come out of his hole? That is a nice way to work, truthfully."
Corporate Connections
Dispute over his commercial relationships pursued him throughout his time as VP. Although he had limited background in business but good contacts in military, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's largest petroleum companies, in 1995 as chair and chief executive.
In 2000 he was selected as Bush's running mate for the presidency. Contentiously, during the military campaign, Halliburton was granted US agreements totaling substantial sums.
It greatly increased his wealth. His yearly earnings during his tenure at the company rose from his previous salary during his time as military head to over four million. When he departed in 2000 he had a compensation package valued at in excess of $20m|twenty
