The former US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who died at age 84, was regarded as arguably the most powerful holders of that position in the nation's history. While countless vice-presidents were confined to minor or ceremonial functions, Cheney held substantial influence during the term of George W Bush, so much so that he was frequently called as the "real president".
Bush resented that description and said the connection was more nuanced. He noted that Cheney was deferential, always calling him in official appearances as Mr President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush challenged even descriptions of their relationship as a team because it suggested that they were peers. Regardless of these objections, Cheney considered the easygoing president malleable on a whole raft of policy decisions.
The Aftermath of 9/11
Leading of a group of neo-cons that featured military head Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in reaction to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. At the time of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been attending a meeting at a elementary school in Florida. While Bush headed for a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney took command, ordering the downing of any non-communicating aircraft approaching the Capitol building.
Cheney claimed the attacks altered his perspective, making him become intent on retribution. In conjunction with other neo-cons, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a takeover of Afghanistan in an attempt to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the armed intervention of Iraq, though there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein playing a role.
Debated Policies
He expressed no regrets about the armed intervention, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, and not about the waterboarding of individuals captured after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was based on misleading intelligence echoed by Cheney, was the right path to take. "It was the correct action to do back then. I was convinced at the time and I hold that view today."
But even at the time, there were opposing views at a senior level about the botched execution of Iraq. One of the government's own delegates to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the position. "I observed, at a minimum," he subsequently stated "clear negligence, inaction, and recklessness: potentially, deception, unfitness, and corruption."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not entirely responsible for the Iraq military action. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for such action. He had written a memorandum setting out scenarios in which national priorities might be endangered (encompassing "access to crucial commodities, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "America should be prepared to operate alone when cooperative measures prove impossible," particularly mentioning armed actions against Iraq.
Bush too had entered the Oval Office somewhat determined on implementing what his predecessor had famously refused to do in 1991; remove Saddam. After he had been fired by the White House, the finance chief Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had announced his intention of diminishing America's participation in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and proposed military action against Iraq.
Bush bore a personal grudge against Saddam, thinking he had been responsible for a conspiracy to murder his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally objected to that one of the most prominent establishments in Baghdad had a ground design with a image of his predecessor's face that all visitors had to tread upon.
Questioning Techniques
However it was Cheney who was among the most vehement behind invading Iraq, consistently quoting agency briefings that were either weak or entirely inaccurate. He supported what the Bush White House euphemistically referred to as "enhanced interrogation", the use of interrogation method and torture.
Responding to a Senate document in 2014 that concluded that no valuable data had come from the torture, Cheney dismissed the conclusions as "full of crap". He stated to Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to implement measures and establish programmes to capture the perpetrators who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it was not repeated. That was specifically what they did and they earn a lot of credit."
External Perception
Cheney took pleasure in nicknames given to him by critics such as the dark character and the dark figure, and by the idea that he was a sinister influence directing Bush. In Peter Baker's 2013 book about the pair, 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 emerge from his domain? It's a nice way to operate, in fact."
Commercial Ties
Dispute over his business interests accompanied him throughout his time as vice-president. Even though he had minimal expertise in business but good contacts in security, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's biggest oil and gas companies, in 1995 as leader and chief executive.
In 2000 he became Bush's running mate for the presidency. Controversially, during the military campaign, Halliburton was awarded US contracts valued at substantial sums.
It significantly boosted his finances. His yearly earnings during his time at the firm increased from his $258,394 while military head to millions. When he departed in 2000 he had a package totaling more than $20m|twenty
