The former US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who died at age 84, was seen as arguably the most powerful holders of that office in US history. While many VPs were limited to minor or figurehead roles, Cheney wielded huge sway during the presidency of George W Bush, so much so that he was often described as the "real president".
Bush objected to such a characterisation and stated the dynamic was more complex. He observed that Cheney was deferential, 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 indicated that they were peers. In spite of these objections, Cheney viewed the relaxed president malleable on a broad range of policy decisions.
A Post-9/11 Era
Leading of a group of neo-conservatives that featured Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the military intervention of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. During of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been taking part in a gathering at a educational institution in Florida. While Bush traveled to a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, commanding the destruction of any unidentified aircraft heading toward the US Capitol.
Cheney claimed the strikes changed him, leading him to become intent on revenge. In conjunction with other conservative figures, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a occupation of Afghanistan in an endeavor to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the military action of Iraq, although there was little proof of Saddam Hussein having involvement.
Disputed Policies
He expressed no regrets about the invasion, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis perished, nor about the enhanced interrogation of individuals apprehended after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was predicated on misleading information echoed by Cheney, was the proper decision. "It proved to be the correct action to do then. I was convinced at the time and I believe it today."
But even at the time, there were dissenting voices at a top tier about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the administration's own special envoys to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the position. "I observed, at the very least," he wrote later "obvious failure, negligence, and recklessness: at worst, lying, ineptitude, and dishonesty."
Broader Context
Cheney was not entirely to blame for the Iraq campaign. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for such action. He had drafted a document outlining scenarios in which American interests might be threatened (featuring "obtaining crucial commodities, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "the US should be postured to take unilateral action when collective action cannot be orchestrated," explicitly mentioning defense operations against Iraq.
Bush too had arrived in the Oval Office vaguely intent on executing what his predecessor had famously refused to do in 1991; topple Saddam. After he had been dismissed by the administration, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had announced his objective of reducing America's involvement in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and proposed military action against Iraq.
Bush bore a personal grudge against Saddam, convinced he had been involved in a plot to murder his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He also disliked that one of the largest accommodations in Baghdad had a floor mural with a image of his predecessor's visage that everyone had to tread upon.
Investigation Approaches
However it was Cheney who was part of the most vehement supporting striking Iraq, frequently quoting agency briefings that were whether insubstantial or completely misleading. He endorsed what the Bush government euphemistically referred to as "enhanced interrogation", the use of interrogation method and harsh treatment.
Addressing a Senate report in 2014 that concluded that no actionable intelligence had resulted from the torture, Cheney rejected the conclusions as "full of crap". He stated to Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to implement measures and create procedures to catch the perpetrators who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it never happened again. That was specifically what they did and they deserve a lot of praise."
Public Image
Cheney enjoyed nicknames assigned to him by detractors such as the Star Wars villain and the dark figure, and by the idea that he was a dark force manipulating Bush. In Peter Baker's 2013 volume about the two, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is quoted as saying: "Do I represent the malevolent mastermind in the shadows that operates invisibly leave his lair? This represents a nice way to operate, truthfully."
Business Interests
Debate over his commercial relationships accompanied him through his period as VP. While he had little experience in corporate affairs but established relationships in defence, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's biggest energy companies, in 1995 as chairman and top executive.
In 2000 he was selected as Bush's election partner for the presidency. Contentiously, during the military campaign, Halliburton was granted US agreements valued at substantial sums.
It greatly increased his wealth. His annual income during his time at the firm rose from his previous salary while Pentagon chief to over four million. When he departed in 2000 he had a severance arrangement valued at more than $20m|twenty
