The late US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who passed away at the age of 84, was considered arguably the most powerful holders of that position in US history. Whereas countless VPs were limited to peripheral or symbolic roles, Cheney wielded huge power during the term of George W Bush, to the point that he was often referred to as the "true president".
Bush objected to that description and said the relationship was more complex. He noted that Cheney was respectful, consistently referring to him in public as the President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush challenged even portrayals of their relationship as a team because it implied that they were peers. In spite of such protestations, Cheney found the relaxed president accommodating on a whole raft of policy decisions.
The Period Following the Attacks
In charge of a faction of neo-conservatives that encompassed defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the invasion of Iraq in 2003 in reaction to the September 11th attacks on New York and Washington. At the time of the 9/11 assault, Bush had been attending a meeting at a elementary school in Florida. While Bush made his way to a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, commanding the shooting down of any unresponsive aircraft nearing the Capitol building.
Cheney said the strikes altered his perspective, leading him to become determined on revenge. Along with other neo-conservatives, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a occupation of Afghanistan in an effort to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the armed intervention of Iraq, although there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein playing a role.
Disputed Policies
He showed no remorse about the invasion, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis died, nor about the harsh treatment of suspects captured after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was founded on misleading reports circulated by Cheney, was the right decision. "It proved to be the correct action to do then. I had faith then and I maintain that stance today."
But even at the time, there were contrary opinions at a senior level about the botched execution of Iraq. One of the government's own representatives to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the position. "I witnessed, at the very least," he subsequently stated "clear negligence, inaction, and recklessness: at worst, falsehoods, incompetence, and graft."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not solely responsible for the Iraq invasion. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for such action. He had written a memo outlining scenarios in which national priorities might be compromised (encompassing "access to vital raw materials, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "the US should be prepared to operate alone when cooperative measures cannot be arranged," explicitly citing defense operations against Iraq.
Bush also had assumed the presidency somewhat determined on executing what his predecessor had famously refused to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. After he had been fired by the president, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his intention of lowering America's participation in the Middle East dispute and suggested military action against Iraq.
Bush bore a private grievance against Saddam, believing he had been responsible for a scheme to assassinate his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore resented that one of the most prominent hotels in Baghdad had a floor mural with a image of his predecessor's visage that all visitors had to walk over.
Interrogation Methods
Yet it was Cheney who was part of the most vociferous supporting invading Iraq, frequently citing intelligence reports that were both insubstantial or totally misleading. He backed what the Bush government euphemistically referred to as "enhanced interrogation", the employment of waterboarding and physical pressure.
Responding to a Senate analysis in 2014 that found that no actionable intelligence had come from the harsh techniques, Cheney rejected the report as "riddled with crap". He told Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to establish protocols and put in place initiatives to capture the individuals who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it never happened again. That's exactly what they did and they deserve a lot of praise."
Public Image
Cheney reveled in monikers assigned to him by detractors such as the dark character and the sinister presence, and by the concept that he was a shadow power manipulating Bush. In the journalist's 2013 book about the two, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is quoted as saying: "Am I the sinister strategist in the shadows that operates invisibly emerge from his lair? That is a advantageous way to work, actually."
Commercial Ties
Debate over his corporate affiliations followed him throughout his time as VP. Even though he had limited background in business but established relationships in defence, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's largest energy companies, in 1995 as chairman and top executive.
In 2000 he was selected as Bush's running mate for the executive branch. Debatably, during the military campaign, Halliburton was given US contracts valued at billions.
It significantly boosted his finances. His annual income during his period at the corporation grew from his quarter-million dollars when he was defence secretary to $4.4m. When he left in 2000 he had a compensation package valued at more than $20m|twenty
