The late US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who died at age 84, was seen as one of the most influential incumbents of that position in US history. Whereas many second-in-commands were confined to marginal or ceremonial roles, Cheney exercised huge power during the presidency of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was often referred to as the "true president".
Bush disliked such a characterisation and claimed the connection was more nuanced. He observed that Cheney was courteous, consistently addressing him in official appearances as Mr President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush disputed even characterisations of their partnership as a team because it implied that they were peers. Despite these denials, Cheney viewed the easygoing president malleable on a wide array of administrative determinations.
The Post-9/11 Era
At the head of a group of neo-cons that encompassed military head Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the September 11th attacks on New York and Washington. During of the 9/11 assault, Bush had been participating in a meeting at a elementary school in Florida. Whereas Bush headed for a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney took command, directing the destruction of any non-communicating planes approaching the US Capitol.
Cheney claimed the assaults altered his perspective, causing him to be focused on retribution. Together with other conservative figures, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a invasion of Afghanistan in an endeavor to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the invasion of Iraq, though there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein having involvement.
Disputed Decisions
He expressed no regrets about the invasion, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, or about the waterboarding of individuals apprehended after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was predicated on faulty intelligence circulated by Cheney, was the proper course of action. "It represented the proper decision to do then. I had faith then and I hold that view presently."
However even at the time, there were dissenting voices at a senior level about the botched execution of Iraq. One of the administration's own delegates to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the role. "I witnessed, at the very least," he wrote later "obvious failure, carelessness, and irresponsibility: potentially, deception, unfitness, and corruption."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not completely to blame for the Iraq invasion. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for similar measures. He had drafted a memo detailing circumstances in which American interests might be threatened (including "obtaining essential resources, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "the US should be positioned to act independently when joint efforts prove impossible," explicitly citing military moves against Iraq.
Bush too had entered the Oval Office generally inclined on carrying out what his parent had famously refused to do in 1991; remove Saddam. Following he had been fired by the president, the finance chief Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his objective of diminishing America's involvement in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and mooted armed intervention against Iraq.
Bush carried a private grievance against Saddam, convinced he had been involved in a conspiracy to murder his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally disliked that one of the most prominent hotels in Baghdad had a floor mural with a portrait of his father's countenance that each person had to step on.
Interrogation Methods
But it was Cheney who was among the most vociferous supporting invading Iraq, repeatedly citing agency briefings that were either weak or totally misleading. He supported what the Bush government indirectly described as "intensive questioning", the use of interrogation method and torture.
Answering a Senate document in 2014 that concluded that no actionable intelligence had resulted from the interrogation methods, Cheney disregarded the conclusions as "loaded with crap". He stated to Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to take steps and put in place procedures to capture the individuals who took the lives of 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it would not recur. That is precisely what they did and they deserve a lot of credit."
External Perception
Cheney enjoyed labels assigned to him by critics such as Darth Vader and the sinister presence, and by the idea that he was a shadow power manipulating Bush. In the author's 2013 volume about the two, 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 shadows that remains unseen come out of his lair? That is a nice way to operate, in fact."
Commercial Ties
Dispute over his corporate affiliations followed him through his period as vice-president. Even though he had limited background in commerce but strong connections in defence, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial energy corporations, in 1995 as chairman and CEO.
In 2000 he became Bush's VP candidate for the executive branch. Contentiously, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was granted US agreements totaling multiple billions.
It greatly increased his wealth. His annual income during his period at the company grew from his previous salary during his time as Pentagon chief to $4.4m. When he departed in 2000 he had a package valued at in excess of $20m|twenty
