The former US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who passed away at the age of 84, was seen as arguably the most powerful incumbents of that position in American history. While numerous second-in-commands were limited to marginal or symbolic functions, Cheney held enormous sway during the term of George W Bush, so much so that he was often referred to as the "real president".
Bush disliked such a characterisation and claimed the connection was more complex. He pointed out that Cheney was courteous, invariably calling him in public as President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush challenged even portrayals of their partnership as a collaboration because it suggested that they were peers. In spite of these objections, Cheney considered the easygoing president accommodating on a wide array of administrative determinations.
A Period Following the Attacks
At the head of a group of conservative hawks that included Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense 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. During of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been taking part in a meeting at a educational institution in Florida. While Bush headed for a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, commanding the downing of any non-communicating planes nearing the government building.
Cheney stated the strikes altered his perspective, causing him to be focused on retaliation. Together with other neo-cons, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a invasion of Afghanistan in an endeavor to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then pressed fiercely for the military action of Iraq, though there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein having involvement.
Disputed Policies
He showed no remorse about the military campaign, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, nor about the harsh treatment of individuals apprehended after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was predicated on misleading reports echoed by Cheney, was the proper course of action. "It was the correct action to do at that time. I had faith at the time and I hold that view now."
However even at the time, there were dissenting voices at a high level about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the government's own delegates to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the role. "I saw, at a minimum," he later wrote "obvious failure, negligence, and unaccountability: in the worst case, falsehoods, unfitness, and dishonesty."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not completely to blame for the Iraq invasion. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for comparable steps. He had composed a memo detailing circumstances in which American interests might be endangered (encompassing "availability of crucial commodities, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "the US should be positioned to act independently when joint efforts cannot be orchestrated," particularly referencing defense operations against Iraq.
Bush too had assumed the Oval Office generally inclined on carrying out what his father had notably declined to do in 1991; topple Saddam. Following he had been dismissed by the White House, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the first meeting of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his objective of lowering America's involvement in the Middle East dispute and proposed military action against Iraq.
Bush held a private grievance against Saddam, convinced he had been behind a scheme to murder his parent, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He also resented that one of the biggest hotels in Baghdad had a ground design with a likeness of his father's visage that everyone had to walk over.
Interrogation Methods
However it was Cheney who was part of the most vehement supporting invading Iraq, consistently quoting intelligence reports that were whether thin or totally deceptive. He endorsed what the Bush administration indirectly described as "enhanced interrogation", the use of interrogation method and physical pressure.
Responding to a Senate document in 2014 that determined that no useful information had resulted from the interrogation methods, Cheney dismissed the findings as "full of crap". He informed Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to take steps and put in place initiatives to capture the individuals who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it was not repeated. That is precisely what they did and they earn a lot of praise."
Public Image
Cheney reveled in nicknames assigned to him by opponents such as Darth Vader and The Prince of Darkness, and by the concept that he was a sinister influence manipulating Bush. In Peter Baker's 2013 book about the duo, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is reported as stating: "Do I represent the evil genius in the background that nobody ever sees leave his hole? That is a advantageous way to function, truthfully."
Commercial Ties
Controversy over his corporate affiliations followed him through his period as vice-president. Even though he had limited background in commerce but established relationships in security, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial petroleum corporations, in 1995 as chair and CEO.
In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's VP candidate for the executive branch. Controversially, during the military campaign, Halliburton was given US deals worth multiple billions.
It made him rich. His annual income during his time at the firm grew from his previous salary when he was defence secretary to over four million. When he left in 2000 he had a package valued at in excess of $20m|twenty
