The late US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who died at the age of 84, was considered one of the most significant incumbents of that office in US history. While many VPs had to settle for minor or ceremonial functions, Cheney wielded huge power during the administration of George W Bush, so much so that he was commonly described as the "true president".
Bush resented that description and said the relationship was more complicated. He noted that Cheney was respectful, invariably calling him in public as Mr President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush questioned even characterisations of their association as a team because it implied that they were peers. In spite of these objections, Cheney viewed the laidback president accommodating on a whole raft of governmental choices.
The Post-9/11 Era
At the head of a faction of conservative hawks that included Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence 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. During of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been attending a meeting at a school in Florida. As Bush made his way to a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, directing the destruction of any unresponsive planes heading toward the US Capitol.
Cheney claimed the attacks transformed him, making him become intent on retribution. Together with other neo-cons, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a takeover of Afghanistan in an endeavor to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the armed intervention of Iraq, even though there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein having involvement.
Debated Decisions
He showed no remorse about the armed intervention, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis died, or about the waterboarding of individuals captured after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was based on misleading information circulated by Cheney, was the right course of action. "It was the proper decision to do back then. I was convinced back then and I believe it presently."
Yet even at the time, there were dissenting voices at a senior level about the poor management of Iraq. One of the administration's own representatives to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the role. "I witnessed, at the very least," he later wrote "obvious failure, carelessness, and recklessness: at worst, falsehoods, ineptitude, and graft."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not solely to blame for the Iraq invasion. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for comparable steps. He had written a document setting out scenarios in which US concerns might be endangered (including "obtaining vital raw materials, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "America should be positioned to take unilateral action when collective action cannot be orchestrated," particularly citing armed actions against Iraq.
Bush too had entered the White House somewhat determined on implementing what his father had famously refused to do in 1991; remove Saddam. Following he had been sacked by the administration, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his objective of diminishing America's engagement in the regional tensions and proposed defense operations against Iraq.
Bush held a personal grudge against Saddam, believing he had been involved in a conspiracy to kill his parent, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He also objected to that one of the largest accommodations in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a portrait of his predecessor's visage that each person had to walk over.
Interrogation Methods
But it was Cheney who was part of the most vehement advocating invading Iraq, consistently quoting intelligence reports that were both thin or totally misleading. He backed what the Bush government euphemistically referred to as "advanced techniques", the application of interrogation method and physical pressure.
Addressing a Senate analysis in 2014 that found that no valuable data had been obtained through the interrogation methods, Cheney rejected the findings as "riddled with crap". He informed Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to establish protocols and create initiatives to capture the individuals who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it was not repeated. That was specifically what they did and they deserve a lot of recognition."
External Perception
Cheney took pleasure in nicknames given to him by critics such as the Star Wars villain and the sinister presence, and by the idea that he was a sinister influence controlling Bush. In Peter Baker's 2013 book about the pair, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is quoted as saying: "Am I the evil genius in the shadows that remains unseen come out of his domain? That is a nice way to function, actually."
Corporate Connections
Controversy over his business interests followed him throughout his time as vice-president. Even though he had limited background in business but established relationships in military, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's biggest oil and gas corporations, in 1995 as chairman and top executive.
In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's running mate for the White House. Contentiously, during the military campaign, Halliburton was granted US contracts worth billions.
It greatly increased his wealth. His yearly compensation during his tenure at the firm rose from his previous salary during his time as military head to $4.4m. When he resigned in 2000 he had a package totaling over $20m|twenty
