The late US vice-president Dick Cheney, who died at age 84, was considered among the most powerful occupants of that office in the nation's history. While numerous second-in-commands were confined to marginal or figurehead functions, Cheney held enormous sway during the term of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was often referred to as the "real president".
Bush disliked this portrayal and stated the dynamic was more nuanced. He pointed out that Cheney was respectful, consistently referring to him in official appearances as the President, while he called him as Dick. Bush questioned even characterisations of their partnership as a partnership because it indicated that they were equals. Regardless of these objections, Cheney viewed the relaxed president malleable on a broad range of governmental choices.
A Post-9/11 Era
At the head of a contingent of neo-conservatives that encompassed defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the military intervention of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the September 11th attacks on New York and Washington. At the time of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been participating in a session at a educational institution in Florida. As Bush made his way to a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, commanding the shooting down of any non-communicating aircraft nearing the government building.
Cheney said the attacks transformed him, causing him to be determined on retaliation. In conjunction with other neo-cons, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a invasion of Afghanistan in an attempt to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the invasion of Iraq, even though there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Controversial Decisions
He showed no remorse about the invasion, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, and not about the waterboarding of individuals apprehended after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was predicated on faulty reports circulated by Cheney, was the right course of action. "It was the right thing to do at that time. I believed it then and I maintain that stance today."
Yet even at the time, there were dissenting voices at a high level about the botched execution of Iraq. One of the administration's own representatives to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the role. "I observed, at the very least," he subsequently stated "true dereliction, carelessness, and irresponsibility: in the worst case, lying, ineptitude, and dishonesty."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not entirely accountable for the Iraq campaign. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for such action. He had written a document detailing circumstances in which American interests might be compromised (including "access to essential resources, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "America should be postured to take unilateral action when cooperative measures cannot be orchestrated," explicitly referencing armed actions against Iraq.
Bush too had arrived in the presidency vaguely intent on implementing what his parent had famously refused to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. After he had been sacked by the administration, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the first meeting of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his intention of lowering America's engagement in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and suggested military action against Iraq.
Bush held a private grievance against Saddam, believing he had been behind a plot to assassinate his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He also objected to that one of the most prominent hotels in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a likeness of his predecessor's visage that each person had to walk over.
Interrogation Methods
Yet it was Cheney who was one of the most vehement behind invading Iraq, repeatedly quoting information documents that were either insubstantial or entirely deceptive. He backed what the Bush White House politely called as "advanced techniques", the employment of interrogation method and harsh treatment.
Responding to a Senate document in 2014 that found that no valuable data had been obtained through the interrogation methods, Cheney dismissed the conclusions as "riddled with crap". He informed Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to take steps and establish initiatives to catch the bastards who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it was not repeated. That is precisely what they did and they merit a lot of credit."
Public Persona
Cheney reveled in labels assigned to him by critics such as the dark character and the sinister presence, and by the notion that he was a dark force manipulating Bush. In the author's 2013 volume about the two, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is reported as stating: "Am I the malevolent mastermind in the background that remains unseen leave his hole? It's a nice way to function, truthfully."
Commercial Ties
Debate over his business interests accompanied him through his period as second-in-command. While he had little experience in corporate affairs but strong connections in security, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial energy companies, in 1995 as chairman and top executive.
In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's VP candidate for the executive branch. Debatably, during the military campaign, Halliburton was awarded US contracts totaling billions.
It made him rich. His annual income during his time at the firm rose from his $258,394 when he was defence secretary to $4.4m. When he departed in 2000 he had a package valued at in excess of $20m|twenty
