The former US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who died at the age of 84, was seen as one of the most powerful incumbents of that position in the nation's history. Whereas many second-in-commands were confined to peripheral or figurehead functions, Cheney held huge power during the administration of George W Bush, to the point that he was frequently described as the "true president".
Bush objected to such a characterisation and stated the connection was more complex. He observed that Cheney was respectful, invariably calling him in public as President, while he called him as Dick. Bush disputed even descriptions of their partnership as a partnership because it implied that they were peers. In spite of such protestations, Cheney viewed the laidback president accommodating on a broad range of governmental choices.
A Post-9/11 Era
At the head of a faction of neo-conservatives that featured defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the invasion of Iraq in 2003 in reaction to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 assault, Bush had been attending a session at a educational institution in Florida. As Bush made his way to a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney took command, commanding the destruction of any non-communicating airplanes nearing the US Capitol.
Cheney stated the assaults altered his perspective, leading him to become intent on revenge. Along with other neo-cons, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a invasion of Afghanistan in an endeavor to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then pressed fiercely for the armed intervention of Iraq, although there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein having involvement.
Controversial Actions
He voiced no apologies about the armed intervention, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis died, and not about the waterboarding of individuals captured after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was based on misleading intelligence repeated by Cheney, was the right decision. "It proved to be the proper decision to do back then. I had faith then and I maintain that stance now."
However even then, there were dissenting voices at a senior level about the poor management of Iraq. One of the White House's own special envoys to the Middle East, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the post. "I witnessed, at a minimum," he subsequently stated "clear negligence, carelessness, and unaccountability: in the worst case, deception, ineptitude, and corruption."
Broader Context
Cheney was not entirely to blame for the Iraq campaign. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for comparable steps. He had written a document outlining scenarios in which US concerns might be threatened (encompassing "availability of essential resources, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "the US should be postured to operate alone when joint efforts cannot be orchestrated," specifically citing defense operations against Iraq.
Bush also had arrived in the White House vaguely intent on carrying out what his predecessor had notably declined to do in 1991; remove Saddam. Following he had been dismissed by the president, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the first meeting of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his intention of lowering America's involvement in the regional tensions and proposed defense operations against Iraq.
Bush carried a private grievance against Saddam, believing he had been involved in a plot to murder his father, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally resented that one of the largest hotels in Baghdad had a floor mural with a likeness of his father's face that each person had to walk over.
Interrogation Methods
Yet it was Cheney who was among the most vehement supporting attacking Iraq, frequently citing information documents that were either thin or completely deceptive. He supported what the Bush government politely called as "intensive questioning", the application of simulated drowning and torture.
Addressing a Senate analysis in 2014 that determined that no useful information had resulted from the torture, Cheney dismissed the findings as "loaded with crap". He told Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to take steps and create programmes to apprehend the individuals who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it was not repeated. That's exactly what they did and they earn a lot of recognition."
External Perception
Cheney took pleasure in nicknames given to him by opponents such as the Star Wars villain and The Prince of Darkness, and by the idea that he was a dark force directing Bush. In the author's 2013 publication about the two, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is cited as commenting: "Am I the malevolent mastermind in the corner that nobody ever sees come out of his domain? It's a effective way to operate, truthfully."
Corporate Connections
Debate over his business interests pursued him through his period as VP. Although he had little experience in commerce but strong connections in security, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial oil and gas companies, in 1995 as chairman and top executive.
In 2000 he was selected as Bush's VP candidate for the executive branch. Contentiously, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was given US contracts totaling billions.
It significantly boosted his finances. His yearly earnings during his tenure at the firm grew from his quarter-million dollars when he was Pentagon chief to over four million. When he resigned in 2000 he had a package worth over $20m|twenty
