The late US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who died at age 84, was regarded as among the most powerful holders of that office in the nation's history. Whereas numerous VPs were limited to peripheral or symbolic roles, Cheney exercised enormous power during the term of George W Bush, so much so that he was frequently referred to as the "actual president".
Bush resented such a characterisation and said the relationship was more nuanced. He pointed out that Cheney was deferential, consistently addressing him in public settings as the President, while he called him as Dick. Bush questioned even descriptions of their partnership as a team because it implied that they were equals. In spite of these objections, Cheney viewed the relaxed president pliable on a broad range of governmental choices.
A Aftermath of 9/11
At the head of a contingent of neo-cons that encompassed defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the military intervention of Iraq in 2003 in reaction to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. During of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been participating in a meeting at a elementary school in Florida. While Bush made his way to a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, commanding the destruction of any non-communicating aircraft nearing the government building.
Cheney said the assaults transformed him, causing him to be focused on revenge. Along with other neo-cons, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a takeover of Afghanistan in an attempt to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the armed intervention of Iraq, even though there was little proof of Saddam Hussein having involvement.
Disputed Policies
He showed no remorse about the armed intervention, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis died, or about the enhanced interrogation of detainees apprehended after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was founded on inaccurate reports echoed by Cheney, was the right decision. "It was the right thing to do then. I had faith at the time and I believe it today."
But even then, there were dissenting voices at a top tier about the poor management of Iraq. One of the government's own representatives to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the post. "I saw, at a minimum," he wrote later "true dereliction, negligence, and unaccountability: at worst, lying, unfitness, and graft."
Additional Factors
Cheney was not solely to blame for the Iraq military action. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for comparable steps. He had written a memorandum outlining situations in which US concerns might be endangered (including "availability of crucial commodities, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "the US should be positioned to operate alone when joint efforts cannot be orchestrated," specifically referencing military moves against Iraq.
Bush also had entered the Oval Office somewhat determined on executing what his predecessor had notably declined to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. After he had been fired by the administration, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill disclosed how, at the first meeting of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his plan of diminishing America's participation in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and proposed defense operations against Iraq.
Bush carried a private grievance against Saddam, convinced he had been behind a conspiracy to kill his parent, 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 face that each person had to walk over.
Questioning Techniques
But it was Cheney who was among the most vociferous supporting attacking Iraq, consistently referencing information documents that were either thin or totally deceptive. He supported what the Bush government politely called as "enhanced interrogation", the application of simulated drowning and torture.
Answering a Senate document in 2014 that found that no valuable data had resulted from the interrogation methods, Cheney rejected the conclusions as "full of crap". He told Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to take steps and put in place procedures to apprehend the perpetrators who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it was not repeated. That's exactly what they did and they deserve a lot of recognition."
External Perception
Cheney reveled in monikers given to him by detractors such as Darth Vader and the dark figure, and by the concept that he was a shadow power manipulating Bush. In the journalist's 2013 volume about the two, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is reported as stating: "Am I the evil genius in the background that remains unseen emerge from his lair? That is a nice way to operate, actually."
Business Interests
Debate over his corporate affiliations followed him throughout his time as second-in-command. Although he had limited background in corporate affairs but established relationships in defence, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial petroleum corporations, in 1995 as chairman and chief executive.
In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's election partner for the White House. Debatably, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was granted US contracts totaling substantial sums.
It made him rich. His annual income during his time at the company grew from his $258,394 during his time as military head to millions. When he departed in 2000 he had a package totaling over $20m|twenty
