The late US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who died at the age of 84, was seen as arguably the most powerful occupants of that position in American history. While many vice-presidents were confined to marginal or ceremonial roles, Cheney exercised substantial power during the administration of George W Bush, to the point that he was often called as the "real president".
Bush disliked such a characterisation and claimed the relationship was more nuanced. He pointed out that Cheney was courteous, invariably calling him in public settings as President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush challenged even characterisations of their partnership as a team because it suggested that they were equals. Regardless of these denials, Cheney considered the easygoing president malleable on a wide array of policy decisions.
The Aftermath of 9/11
At the head of a faction of neo-conservatives that featured military head Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in reaction to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 assault, Bush had been attending a meeting at a elementary school in Florida. While Bush headed for a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney took command, ordering the downing of any non-communicating aircraft heading toward the Capitol building.
Cheney stated the assaults transformed him, making him become focused on retaliation. Together with other neo-cons, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a occupation of Afghanistan in an attempt to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then pressed fiercely for the armed intervention of Iraq, though there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Disputed Actions
He showed no remorse about the military campaign, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis perished, and not about the harsh treatment of detainees captured after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was predicated on inaccurate information repeated by Cheney, was the right path to take. "It represented the correct action to do at that time. I had faith at the time and I believe it today."
However even then, there were contrary opinions at a top tier about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the White House's own representatives to the Middle East, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the post. "I saw, at a minimum," he subsequently stated "obvious failure, negligence, and irresponsibility: in the worst case, falsehoods, ineptitude, and graft."
Broader Context
Cheney was not completely responsible for the Iraq campaign. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for comparable steps. He had drafted a document setting out scenarios in which US concerns might be compromised (encompassing "access to crucial commodities, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "America should be postured to act independently when joint efforts cannot be orchestrated," explicitly citing military moves against Iraq.
Bush also had arrived in the White House somewhat determined on executing what his father had notably declined to do in 1991; topple Saddam. After he had been sacked by the White House, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill disclosed how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his objective of diminishing America's engagement in the Middle East dispute and proposed military action against Iraq.
Bush carried a private grievance against Saddam, thinking he had been involved in a plot to murder his father, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore resented that one of the biggest establishments in Baghdad had a ground design with a likeness of his parent's face that all visitors had to walk over.
Investigation Approaches
However it was Cheney who was part of the most outspoken advocating invading Iraq, repeatedly referencing agency briefings that were either thin or entirely inaccurate. He backed what the Bush White House euphemistically referred to as "intensive questioning", the employment of simulated drowning and physical pressure.
Answering a Senate analysis in 2014 that concluded that no useful information had come from the interrogation methods, Cheney rejected the report as "full of crap". He stated to Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to implement measures and establish procedures to apprehend the individuals who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it was not repeated. That was specifically what they did and they merit a lot of praise."
Public Persona
Cheney reveled in labels imposed on him by opponents such as the dark character and the dark figure, and by the concept that he was a shadow power directing Bush. In the author's 2013 publication about the two, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is cited as commenting: "Am I the malevolent mastermind in the shadows that operates invisibly come out of his domain? This represents a advantageous way to function, in fact."
Commercial Ties
Debate over his commercial relationships pursued him through his period as vice-president. Although he had minimal expertise in business but good contacts in military, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's largest petroleum corporations, in 1995 as leader and CEO.
In 2000 he was selected as Bush's running mate for the executive branch. Controversially, during the military campaign, Halliburton was given US agreements valued at billions.
It greatly increased his wealth. His yearly compensation during his time at the firm grew from his previous salary during his time as defence secretary to $4.4m. When he departed in 2000 he had a compensation package valued at in excess of $20m|twenty
