The former US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who died at the age of 84, was regarded as arguably the most influential incumbents of that office in the nation's history. Whereas numerous VPs were limited to peripheral or ceremonial positions, Cheney exercised huge influence during the administration of George W Bush, so much so that he was frequently described as the "actual president".
Bush resented such a characterisation and said the dynamic was more nuanced. He observed that Cheney was respectful, consistently calling him in public settings as the President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush challenged even descriptions of their association as a partnership because it indicated that they were on equal footing. In spite of such protestations, Cheney viewed the relaxed president malleable on a wide array of policy decisions.
The Aftermath of 9/11
Leading of a faction of neo-conservatives that featured military head Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in response to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been participating in a meeting at a school in Florida. While Bush headed for a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, commanding the downing of any non-communicating aircraft nearing the government building.
Cheney stated the attacks altered his perspective, making him become determined on retaliation. Along with other conservative figures, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a invasion of Afghanistan in an attempt to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the armed intervention of Iraq, though there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein playing a role.
Disputed Decisions
He showed no remorse about the military campaign, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis perished, or about the harsh treatment of detainees rounded up after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was based on inaccurate information repeated by Cheney, was the correct course of action. "It was the proper decision to do back then. I believed it back then and I believe it now."
However even at the time, there were dissenting voices at a top tier about the poor management of Iraq. One of the government's own representatives to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the role. "I observed, as a baseline," he later wrote "clear negligence, inaction, and irresponsibility: at worst, deception, unfitness, and corruption."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not completely accountable for the Iraq military action. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for similar measures. He had composed a document setting out scenarios in which national priorities might be threatened (encompassing "access to crucial commodities, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "the United States should be postured to act independently when cooperative measures cannot be arranged," explicitly mentioning defense operations against Iraq.
Bush also had entered 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 president, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the first meeting of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his plan of lowering America's participation in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and suggested armed intervention against Iraq.
Bush carried a private grievance against Saddam, convinced he had been involved in a scheme to murder his parent, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally resented that one of the most prominent accommodations in Baghdad had a floor mural with a portrait of his predecessor's face that everyone had to walk over.
Interrogation Methods
However it was Cheney who was part of the most vehement advocating striking Iraq, repeatedly referencing agency briefings that were either weak or totally misleading. He backed what the Bush government euphemistically referred to as "advanced techniques", the use of waterboarding and physical pressure.
Answering a Senate report in 2014 that determined that no useful information had come from the interrogation methods, Cheney dismissed the report as "loaded with crap". He informed Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to take steps and establish programmes to apprehend the bastards who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it was not repeated. That is precisely what they did and they merit a lot of praise."
Public Persona
Cheney reveled in nicknames imposed on him by opponents such as the dark character and the dark figure, and by the concept that he was a dark force directing Bush. In the author's 2013 publication about the duo, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is quoted as saying: "Is it me who is the sinister strategist in the shadows that nobody ever sees emerge from his hole? This represents a advantageous way to work, actually."
Business Interests
Debate over his commercial relationships followed him through his period as second-in-command. While he had little experience in business but established relationships in defence, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial energy companies, in 1995 as leader and CEO.
In 2000 he was selected as Bush's election partner for the White House. Contentiously, during the military campaign, Halliburton was awarded US contracts worth substantial sums.
It made him rich. His yearly compensation during his tenure at the corporation rose from his previous salary during his time as Pentagon chief to over four million. When he departed in 2000 he had a compensation package worth more than $20m|twenty
