The former US vice-president Dick Cheney, who died at age 84, was seen as arguably the most significant occupants of that position in American history. Whereas many second-in-commands were confined to minor or symbolic functions, Cheney exercised substantial influence during the term of George W Bush, so much so that he was frequently called as the "real president".
Bush resented this portrayal and claimed the dynamic was more nuanced. He noted that Cheney was respectful, always referring to him in public as the President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush questioned even descriptions of their association as a collaboration because it implied that they were peers. In spite of such protestations, Cheney considered the relaxed president accommodating on a wide array of governmental choices.
A Post-9/11 Era
Leading of a faction of neo-conservatives that featured defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the military intervention of Iraq in 2003 in reaction to the September 11th attacks on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been attending a meeting at a educational institution in Florida. While Bush headed for a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, ordering the destruction of any non-communicating aircraft heading toward the government building.
Cheney claimed the assaults changed him, causing him to be focused 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 vigorously pushed for the armed intervention of Iraq, though there was little proof of Saddam Hussein having involvement.
Debated Actions
He voiced no apologies about the military campaign, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, and not about the enhanced interrogation of individuals rounded up after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was founded on faulty reports repeated by Cheney, was the proper path to take. "It was the correct action to do then. I believed it back then and I hold that view presently."
Yet even at the time, there were contrary opinions at a senior level about the botched execution of Iraq. One of the White House's own special envoys to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the position. "I saw, at a minimum," he later wrote "obvious failure, negligence, and unaccountability: at worst, lying, ineptitude, and graft."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not solely responsible for the Iraq military action. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for comparable steps. He had drafted a memo setting out scenarios in which US concerns might be threatened (including "availability of vital raw materials, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "the United States should be postured to take unilateral action when collective action cannot be orchestrated," explicitly citing military moves against Iraq.
Bush also had arrived in the Oval Office vaguely intent on implementing what his father had famously refused to do in 1991; remove Saddam. After he had been fired by the administration, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his plan of lowering America's participation in the regional tensions and mooted armed intervention against Iraq.
Bush held a personal grudge against Saddam, thinking he had been responsible for a scheme to kill his parent, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore objected to that one of the biggest establishments in Baghdad had a floor mural with a image of his father's countenance that each person had to step on.
Questioning Techniques
However it was Cheney who was part of the most vehement advocating attacking Iraq, repeatedly referencing intelligence reports that were whether thin or entirely misleading. He endorsed what the Bush White House politely called as "intensive questioning", the application of interrogation method and harsh treatment.
Answering a Senate document in 2014 that concluded that no actionable intelligence had been obtained through the torture, Cheney rejected the report as "full of crap". He told Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to establish protocols and put in place procedures to capture the perpetrators who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it was not repeated. That's exactly what they did and they merit a lot of recognition."
Public Image
Cheney took pleasure in nicknames given to him by critics such as Darth Vader and The Prince of Darkness, and by the notion that he was a dark force manipulating Bush. In the journalist's 2013 book about the duo, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is reported as stating: "Is it me who is the malevolent mastermind in the corner that operates invisibly emerge from his hole? It's a nice way to work, truthfully."
Commercial Ties
Dispute over his corporate affiliations followed him through his period as second-in-command. While he had little experience in corporate affairs but established relationships in military, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's biggest energy conglomerates, in 1995 as chair and top executive.
In 2000 he became Bush's election partner for the White House. Contentiously, during the military campaign, Halliburton was granted US agreements valued at billions.
It significantly boosted his finances. His yearly compensation during his period at the company grew from his quarter-million dollars during his time as Pentagon chief to over four million. When he resigned in 2000 he had a package totaling in excess of $20m|twenty
