The former US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who died at the age of 84, was considered among the most influential holders of that office in American history. Whereas numerous second-in-commands were confined to minor or figurehead roles, Cheney held substantial power during the term of George W Bush, so much so that he was commonly referred to as the "true president".
Bush objected to such a characterisation and claimed the connection was more nuanced. He pointed out that Cheney was deferential, always referring to him in public settings as Mr President, while he called him as Dick. Bush challenged even portrayals of their relationship as a team because it implied that they were on equal footing. Despite such protestations, Cheney viewed the laidback president pliable on a whole raft of administrative determinations.
The Period Following the Attacks
In charge of a contingent of conservative hawks that featured defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the invasion of Iraq in 2003 in reaction to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 assault, Bush had been attending a gathering at a educational institution in Florida. Whereas Bush traveled to a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney took command, directing the destruction of any non-communicating planes heading toward the government building.
Cheney claimed the strikes altered his perspective, causing him to be intent on revenge. Along with other neo-cons, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a invasion of Afghanistan in an endeavor to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the armed intervention of Iraq, although there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein having involvement.
Debated Policies
He voiced no apologies about the invasion, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, and not about the waterboarding of detainees rounded up after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was predicated on faulty information repeated by Cheney, was the right path to take. "It represented the proper decision to do then. I was convinced back then and I maintain that stance presently."
However even then, there were dissenting voices at a senior level about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the White House's own representatives to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the role. "I observed, at the very least," he wrote later "true dereliction, negligence, and unaccountability: in the worst case, deception, incompetence, and dishonesty."
Broader Context
Cheney was not completely responsible for the Iraq military action. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for similar measures. He had written a memo setting out situations in which national priorities might be threatened (including "obtaining crucial commodities, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "America should be positioned to take unilateral action when cooperative measures cannot be orchestrated," explicitly mentioning military moves against Iraq.
Bush too had entered the presidency somewhat determined on carrying out what his predecessor had specifically avoided to do in 1991; remove Saddam. Following he had been fired by the president, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the first meeting of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had announced his objective of diminishing America's participation in the Middle East dispute and mooted armed intervention against Iraq.
Bush held a personal grudge against Saddam, convinced he had been behind a plot to kill his parent, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore objected to that one of the most prominent hotels in Baghdad had a floor mural with a image of his predecessor's countenance that all visitors had to tread upon.
Interrogation Methods
Yet it was Cheney who was part of the most outspoken behind striking Iraq, consistently referencing agency briefings that were both thin or entirely misleading. He backed what the Bush administration politely called as "advanced techniques", the application of interrogation method and torture.
Answering a Senate document in 2014 that concluded that no actionable intelligence had resulted from the interrogation methods, Cheney disregarded the conclusions as "riddled with crap". He stated to Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to implement measures and put in place programmes to capture the perpetrators who took the lives of 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it never happened again. That is precisely what they did and they earn a lot of praise."
External Perception
Cheney enjoyed nicknames assigned to him by critics such as the Star Wars villain and The Prince of Darkness, and by the idea that he was a sinister influence manipulating Bush. In the journalist's 2013 volume about the pair, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is reported as stating: "Am I the evil genius in the background that remains unseen come out of his hole? That is a nice way to work, truthfully."
Commercial Ties
Dispute over his commercial relationships accompanied him during his tenure as VP. While he had little experience in business but strong connections 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 leader and chief executive.
In 2000 he was selected as Bush's VP candidate for the presidency. Debatably, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was granted US agreements valued at multiple billions.
It significantly boosted his finances. His yearly compensation during his time at the firm increased from his previous salary during his time as military head to $4.4m. When he left in 2000 he had a severance arrangement totaling over $20m|twenty
