The late US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who passed away at the age of 84, was considered arguably the most significant holders of that position in the nation's history. While many second-in-commands were confined to marginal or symbolic roles, Cheney wielded enormous sway during the term of George W Bush, so much so that he was often called as the "true president".
Bush disliked such a characterisation and said the dynamic was more nuanced. He pointed out that Cheney was courteous, invariably calling him in public as Mr President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush questioned even portrayals of their association as a partnership because it implied that they were equals. Despite these denials, Cheney found the laidback president malleable on a broad range of policy decisions.
The Aftermath of 9/11
At the head of a group of neo-cons that encompassed military head Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 strike, Bush had been attending a session at a school in Florida. Whereas Bush made his way to a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, commanding the downing of any unresponsive aircraft nearing the Capitol building.
Cheney stated the strikes transformed him, leading him to become intent on retaliation. In conjunction with other neo-conservatives, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a occupation of Afghanistan in an attempt to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then pressed fiercely for the military action of Iraq, although there was little proof of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Debated Actions
He voiced no apologies about the military campaign, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis perished, or about the waterboarding of individuals captured after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was predicated on faulty reports repeated by Cheney, was the correct course of action. "It proved to be the correct action to do at that time. I was convinced then and I hold that view presently."
But even at the time, there were contrary opinions at a top tier about the poor management of Iraq. One of the administration's own special envoys to the Middle East, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the role. "I observed, as a baseline," he later wrote "clear negligence, inaction, and unaccountability: at worst, falsehoods, ineptitude, and dishonesty."
Broader Context
Cheney was not completely to blame for the Iraq campaign. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for similar measures. He had drafted a memo setting out scenarios in which US concerns might be compromised (featuring "availability of essential resources, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "the US should be postured to take unilateral action when cooperative measures cannot be arranged," particularly mentioning defense operations against Iraq.
Bush also had entered the presidency vaguely intent on carrying out what his predecessor had famously refused to do in 1991; remove Saddam. After he had been fired by the president, the finance chief Paul O'Neill disclosed how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his plan of diminishing America's participation in the Middle East dispute and proposed defense operations against Iraq.
Bush held a private grievance against Saddam, thinking he had been behind a conspiracy to assassinate his parent, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He also disliked that one of the biggest establishments in Baghdad had a floor mural with a portrait of his predecessor's countenance that everyone had to tread upon.
Interrogation Methods
However it was Cheney who was among the most vehement behind striking Iraq, frequently referencing agency briefings that were both thin or totally misleading. He supported what the Bush government indirectly described as "intensive questioning", the use of waterboarding and physical pressure.
Answering a Senate document in 2014 that found that no actionable intelligence had come from the interrogation methods, Cheney rejected the conclusions as "full of crap". He told Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to establish protocols and put in place procedures to apprehend the bastards who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it was not repeated. That is precisely what they did and they deserve a lot of credit."
Public Persona
Cheney reveled in labels given to him by detractors such as the Star Wars villain and The Prince of Darkness, and by the concept that he was a sinister influence manipulating Bush. In the journalist's 2013 publication about the duo, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is quoted as saying: "Do I represent the sinister strategist in the corner that remains unseen leave his hole? This represents a effective way to function, actually."
Corporate Connections
Controversy over his business interests accompanied him during his tenure as VP. Although he had little experience in business but strong connections in defence, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's biggest oil and gas conglomerates, in 1995 as leader and top executive.
In 2000 he was selected as Bush's VP candidate for the White House. Debatably, during the military campaign, Halliburton was granted US agreements totaling multiple billions.
It made him rich. His yearly earnings during his time at the firm increased from his previous salary while Pentagon chief to millions. When he departed in 2000 he had a severance arrangement worth more than $20m|twenty
