The late US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who passed away at age 84, was considered one of the most significant incumbents of the vice-presidency in American history. Although numerous vice-presidents had to settle for peripheral or ceremonial functions, Cheney wielded huge influence during the presidency of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was often called as the "actual president".
Bush objected to such a characterisation and stated the dynamic was more complex. He noted that Cheney was deferential, consistently referring to him in public settings as Mr President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush disputed even portrayals of their partnership as a team because it indicated that they were peers. Despite such protestations, Cheney viewed the relaxed president malleable on a broad range of administrative determinations.
The Aftermath of 9/11
In charge of a faction of conservative hawks that featured Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in response to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. During of the 9/11 assault, Bush had been attending a session at a elementary school in Florida. While Bush traveled to a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, ordering the downing of any unresponsive planes heading toward the government building.
Cheney said the assaults transformed him, leading him to become focused on retaliation. Along with other neo-cons, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a invasion of Afghanistan in an effort to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the armed intervention of Iraq, even though there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Disputed Actions
He expressed no regrets about the military campaign, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis died, or about the waterboarding of individuals captured after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was based on faulty intelligence echoed by Cheney, was the right path to take. "It proved to be the proper decision to do at that time. I was convinced back then and I maintain that stance today."
But even then, there were opposing views at a high level about the poor management of Iraq. One of the government's own representatives to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the role. "I observed, at the very least," he later wrote "clear negligence, negligence, and irresponsibility: in the worst case, falsehoods, ineptitude, and dishonesty."
Broader Context
Cheney was not solely to blame for the Iraq military action. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for such action. He had drafted a document detailing scenarios in which national priorities might be compromised (featuring "access to crucial commodities, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "America should be postured to take unilateral action when joint efforts cannot be arranged," specifically referencing armed actions against Iraq.
Bush also had arrived in the Oval Office generally inclined on executing what his parent had notably declined to do in 1991; topple Saddam. Following he had been sacked by the president, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his objective of diminishing America's involvement in the regional tensions and suggested armed intervention against Iraq.
Bush held a private grievance against Saddam, thinking he had been involved in a scheme to murder his parent, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He also resented that one of the biggest hotels in Baghdad had a ground design with a portrait of his parent's face that everyone had to step on.
Investigation Approaches
However it was Cheney who was part of the most vociferous behind invading Iraq, repeatedly referencing agency briefings that were both insubstantial or completely deceptive. He backed what the Bush administration indirectly described as "intensive questioning", the use of interrogation method and harsh treatment.
Answering a Senate analysis in 2014 that concluded that no actionable intelligence had resulted from the torture, Cheney disregarded the report as "loaded with crap". He stated to Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to implement measures and create initiatives to apprehend the individuals who took the lives of 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it was not repeated. That is precisely what they did and they merit a lot of praise."
Public Image
Cheney took pleasure in monikers assigned to him by critics such as Darth Vader and The Prince of Darkness, and by the notion that he was a dark force manipulating Bush. In the journalist's 2013 volume about the duo, 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 nobody ever sees leave his lair? That is a nice way to operate, in fact."
Business Interests
Controversy over his business interests pursued him through his period as vice-president. Although he had limited background in business but good contacts in military, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's biggest petroleum companies, in 1995 as chair and CEO.
In 2000 he became Bush's election partner for the White House. Debatably, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was awarded US contracts worth multiple billions.
It made him rich. His annual income during his period at the company rose from his previous salary when he was defence secretary to millions. When he resigned in 2000 he had a package valued at in excess of $20m|twenty
