The late US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who passed away at the age of 84, was considered one of the most significant incumbents of that position in US history. Whereas countless VPs were limited to minor or ceremonial positions, Cheney held enormous power during the presidency of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was often referred to as the "real president".
Bush disliked that description and said the dynamic was more nuanced. He noted that Cheney was courteous, invariably calling him in public settings as President, while he called him as Dick. Bush questioned even characterisations of their association as a team because it implied that they were equals. Despite these objections, Cheney considered the easygoing president malleable on a whole raft of governmental choices.
The Post-9/11 Era
In charge of a group of conservative hawks that included defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary 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 attending a meeting at a educational institution in Florida. While Bush made his way to a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, commanding the destruction of any unidentified aircraft heading toward the Capitol building.
Cheney claimed the attacks transformed him, leading him to become determined on retaliation. In conjunction with other conservative figures, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a takeover of Afghanistan in an effort to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the military action of Iraq, though there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein playing a role.
Controversial Decisions
He voiced no apologies about the military campaign, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, and not about the waterboarding of detainees rounded up after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was founded on misleading intelligence repeated by Cheney, was the correct course of action. "It was the proper decision to do at that time. I believed it then and I hold that view today."
Yet even then, there were dissenting voices at a high level about the botched execution of Iraq. One of the government's own representatives to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the position. "I observed, at a minimum," he subsequently stated "true dereliction, inaction, and irresponsibility: at worst, lying, ineptitude, and dishonesty."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not solely accountable for the Iraq military action. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for comparable steps. He had written a memo detailing circumstances in which US concerns might be compromised (including "access to essential resources, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "America should be positioned to take unilateral action when cooperative measures cannot be orchestrated," specifically mentioning defense operations against Iraq.
Bush too had entered the presidency generally inclined on implementing what his predecessor had notably declined to do in 1991; topple Saddam. Following he had been dismissed by the president, the finance chief Paul O'Neill disclosed how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had announced his intention of diminishing America's involvement in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and suggested military action against Iraq.
Bush bore a personal grudge against Saddam, convinced he had been responsible for a conspiracy to kill his parent, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally resented that one of the largest accommodations in Baghdad had a floor mural with a likeness of his father's face that everyone had to tread upon.
Interrogation Methods
But it was Cheney who was one of the most vociferous advocating invading Iraq, consistently citing intelligence reports that were both insubstantial or entirely deceptive. He backed what the Bush White House politely called as "intensive questioning", the use of waterboarding and physical pressure.
Responding to a Senate document in 2014 that found that no useful information had been obtained through the torture, Cheney dismissed the findings as "loaded with crap". He stated to Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to establish protocols and establish initiatives to catch the individuals who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it never happened again. That is precisely what they did and they deserve a lot of praise."
Public Persona
Cheney took pleasure in labels given to him by detractors such as Darth Vader and The Prince of Darkness, and by the concept that he was a dark force directing Bush. In the author's 2013 publication about the duo, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is quoted as saying: "Do I represent the sinister strategist in the corner that nobody ever sees come out of his hole? That is a advantageous way to function, truthfully."
Commercial Ties
Controversy over his commercial relationships accompanied him through his period as second-in-command. While he had minimal expertise in corporate affairs but good contacts in security, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's largest oil and gas companies, in 1995 as chairman and CEO.
In 2000 he was selected as Bush's running mate for the White House. Contentiously, during the military campaign, Halliburton was awarded US agreements valued at billions.
It greatly increased his wealth. His yearly earnings during his period at the corporation rose from his quarter-million dollars during his time as defence secretary to $4.4m. When he departed in 2000 he had a package valued at over $20m|twenty
