The late US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who died at age 84, was considered one of the most influential holders of that position in the nation's history. Whereas numerous VPs were confined to minor or ceremonial roles, Cheney held enormous influence during the term of George W Bush, so much so that he was frequently referred to as the "true president".
Bush disliked that description and claimed the connection was more complex. He noted that Cheney was courteous, always referring to him in official appearances as the President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush challenged even descriptions of their association as a partnership because it suggested that they were peers. Regardless of these objections, Cheney considered the easygoing president pliable on a wide array of policy decisions.
The Aftermath of 9/11
At the head of a faction of neo-cons that included Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the armed incursion 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 participating in a gathering at a elementary school in Florida. As Bush made his way to a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney took command, commanding the shooting down of any unidentified planes heading toward the Capitol building.
Cheney said the assaults altered his perspective, making him become focused on revenge. Along with other neo-cons, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a occupation of Afghanistan in an effort to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then pressed fiercely for the armed intervention of Iraq, although there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein playing a role.
Disputed Decisions
He showed no remorse about the armed intervention, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis perished, nor about the harsh treatment of detainees captured after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was founded on misleading information echoed by Cheney, was the proper decision. "It proved to be the correct action to do at that time. I had faith back then and I hold that view now."
However even at the time, there were opposing views at a high level about the poor management of Iraq. One of the administration's own special envoys to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the post. "I observed, as a baseline," he subsequently stated "true dereliction, carelessness, and recklessness: potentially, falsehoods, unfitness, and corruption."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not entirely accountable for the Iraq military action. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for such action. He had drafted a memorandum setting out scenarios in which American interests might be threatened (including "obtaining vital raw materials, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "America should be prepared to operate alone when collective action cannot be orchestrated," explicitly citing military moves against Iraq.
Bush too had arrived in the White House generally inclined on carrying out what his predecessor had famously refused to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. Subsequent to he had been sacked by the administration, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the first meeting of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his objective of reducing America's involvement in the Middle East dispute and proposed military action against Iraq.
Bush carried a personal grudge against Saddam, believing he had been responsible for a plot to murder his father, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He also disliked that one of the largest establishments in Baghdad had a ground design with a image of his father's countenance that all visitors had to step on.
Investigation Approaches
But it was Cheney who was among the most vehement advocating invading Iraq, frequently referencing agency briefings that were whether weak or totally inaccurate. He supported what the Bush White House euphemistically referred to as "intensive questioning", the application of interrogation method and physical pressure.
Addressing a Senate analysis in 2014 that concluded that no useful information had been obtained through the harsh techniques, Cheney rejected the findings 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 make sure it would not recur. That is precisely what they did and they earn a lot of praise."
Public Image
Cheney reveled in labels imposed on him by detractors such as Darth Vader and the dark figure, and by the notion that he was a sinister influence manipulating Bush. In the author's 2013 volume about the two, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is cited as commenting: "Is it me who is the sinister strategist in the shadows that remains unseen come out of his lair? It's a effective way to work, in fact."
Commercial Ties
Dispute over his commercial relationships followed him during his tenure as vice-president. Although he had minimal expertise in business but good contacts in defence, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's biggest petroleum corporations, in 1995 as leader and top executive.
In 2000 he was selected as Bush's running mate for the presidency. Controversially, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was awarded US agreements valued at billions.
It significantly boosted his finances. His annual income during his period at the firm grew from his quarter-million dollars when he was military head to $4.4m. When he departed in 2000 he had a package totaling over $20m|twenty
