The late US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who died at the age of 84, was seen as one of the most influential incumbents of that office in the nation's history. Although countless vice-presidents were confined to peripheral or figurehead positions, Cheney wielded enormous influence during the presidency of George W Bush, to the point that he was often called as the "real president".
Bush disliked such a characterisation and stated the dynamic was more complicated. He pointed out that Cheney was deferential, always calling him in official appearances as Mr President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush disputed even portrayals of their association as a partnership because it indicated that they were on equal footing. In spite of these objections, Cheney considered the easygoing president malleable on a whole raft of policy decisions.
A Period Following the Attacks
At the head of a group of neo-cons that included defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. During of the 9/11 assault, Bush had been participating in a gathering at a school in Florida. While Bush headed for a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, commanding the shooting down of any unresponsive planes approaching the government building.
Cheney claimed the strikes transformed him, causing him to be intent on retaliation. In conjunction with other neo-conservatives, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a occupation of Afghanistan in an attempt to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the military action of Iraq, though there was little proof of Saddam Hussein playing a role.
Disputed Policies
He voiced no apologies about the armed intervention, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis died, nor about the harsh treatment of individuals rounded up after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was predicated on misleading information repeated by Cheney, was the right path to take. "It was the proper decision to do at that time. I believed it then and I believe it presently."
However even at the time, there were contrary opinions 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 post. "I saw, as a baseline," he subsequently stated "clear negligence, negligence, and unaccountability: in the worst case, deception, unfitness, and graft."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not solely responsible for the Iraq invasion. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for similar measures. He had composed a document detailing scenarios in which American interests might be threatened (featuring "obtaining essential resources, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "the US should be prepared to operate alone when cooperative measures cannot be orchestrated," explicitly citing military moves against Iraq.
Bush also had assumed the White House somewhat determined on executing what his predecessor had famously refused to do in 1991; remove Saddam. After he had been sacked by the administration, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his intention of reducing America's participation in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and suggested defense operations against Iraq.
Bush held a personal grudge against Saddam, believing he had been involved in a scheme to assassinate his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore resented that one of the biggest accommodations in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a likeness of his predecessor's countenance that all visitors had to step on.
Interrogation Methods
However it was Cheney who was part of the most vehement supporting attacking Iraq, consistently quoting information documents that were both weak or totally inaccurate. He backed what the Bush government euphemistically referred to as "intensive questioning", the application of waterboarding and harsh treatment.
Answering a Senate report in 2014 that found that no useful information had been obtained through the torture, Cheney dismissed the findings as "riddled with crap". He stated to Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to establish protocols and establish programmes to apprehend the individuals who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it never happened again. That's exactly what they did and they merit a lot of praise."
Public Persona
Cheney enjoyed labels imposed on him by opponents such as the Star Wars villain and The Prince of Darkness, and by the notion that he was a shadow power directing Bush. In Peter Baker's 2013 publication about the duo, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is reported as stating: "Am I the evil genius in the corner that operates invisibly come out of his domain? It's a effective way to function, actually."
Business Interests
Dispute over his business interests pursued him throughout his time as vice-president. Although he had limited background in corporate affairs but good contacts in security, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial petroleum conglomerates, in 1995 as chairman and top executive.
In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's election partner for the executive branch. Debatably, during the military campaign, Halliburton was granted US contracts totaling billions.
It significantly boosted his finances. His annual income during his tenure at the corporation grew from his $258,394 when he was defence secretary to $4.4m. When he resigned in 2000 he had a package valued at more than $20m|twenty
