The late US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who died at age 84, was seen as arguably the most influential holders of that office in the nation's history. Although countless vice-presidents had to settle for marginal or symbolic functions, Cheney wielded enormous power during the term of George W Bush, so much so that he was frequently called as the "real president".
Bush disliked that description and claimed the connection was more complicated. He observed that Cheney was respectful, consistently addressing him in public as Mr President, while he called him as Dick. Bush questioned even portrayals of their partnership as a partnership because it implied that they were equals. Despite these denials, Cheney found the relaxed president malleable on a wide array of policy decisions.
The Aftermath of 9/11
In charge of a group of neo-cons that encompassed military head Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the invasion of Iraq in 2003 in response to the September 11th attacks on New York and Washington. At the time of the 9/11 assault, Bush had been taking part in a session at a educational institution in Florida. While Bush made his way to a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, commanding the shooting down of any unidentified airplanes heading toward the Capitol building.
Cheney claimed the attacks altered his perspective, leading him to become intent on revenge. Along with other neo-cons, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a takeover of Afghanistan in an attempt to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the military action of Iraq, though there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein having involvement.
Debated Policies
He voiced no apologies about the invasion, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis died, nor about the waterboarding of suspects apprehended after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was based on inaccurate intelligence echoed by Cheney, was the right course of action. "It was the correct action to do at that time. I believed it at the time and I believe it now."
But during that period, there were opposing views 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 retained from the position. "I saw, as a baseline," he later wrote "true dereliction, negligence, and unaccountability: at worst, lying, incompetence, and corruption."
Broader Context
Cheney was not entirely to blame for the Iraq invasion. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for similar measures. He had written a document setting out situations in which national priorities might be threatened (encompassing "availability of vital raw materials, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "America should be positioned to act independently when joint efforts cannot be arranged," specifically referencing defense operations against Iraq.
Bush too had arrived in the Oval Office generally inclined on implementing what his father had specifically avoided to do in 1991; remove Saddam. After he had been dismissed by the administration, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his objective of reducing America's participation in the Middle East dispute and proposed defense operations against Iraq.
Bush bore a individual resentment against Saddam, believing he had been behind a plot to kill his father, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore disliked that one of the biggest accommodations in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a likeness of his predecessor's face that everyone had to step on.
Questioning Techniques
But it was Cheney who was one of the most outspoken behind invading Iraq, frequently citing agency briefings that were whether weak or totally misleading. He supported what the Bush White House politely called as "intensive questioning", the application of waterboarding and torture.
Answering a Senate report in 2014 that found that no useful information had resulted from the interrogation methods, Cheney dismissed the conclusions as "loaded with crap". He told Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to implement measures and establish initiatives to apprehend the individuals who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it was not repeated. That was specifically what they did and they deserve a lot of praise."
Public Persona
Cheney reveled in labels given to him by detractors such as Darth Vader and The Prince of Darkness, and by the concept that he was a shadow power controlling Bush. In the author's 2013 publication about the pair, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is cited as commenting: "Do I represent the sinister strategist in the shadows that operates invisibly leave his hole? It's a advantageous way to function, truthfully."
Business Interests
Controversy over his commercial relationships pursued him through his period as second-in-command. Even though he had minimal expertise in business but established relationships in military, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's biggest oil and gas companies, in 1995 as chairman and chief executive.
In 2000 he was selected as Bush's VP candidate for the presidency. Controversially, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was given US agreements totaling multiple billions.
It made him rich. His annual income during his period at the firm increased from his quarter-million dollars when he was defence secretary to $4.4m. When he left in 2000 he had a package valued at more than $20m|twenty
