The deceased US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who passed away at the age of 84, was seen as arguably the most powerful holders of that position in US history. While countless VPs were confined to peripheral or ceremonial functions, Cheney exercised huge influence during the presidency of George W Bush, so much so that he was frequently described as the "real president".
Bush resented this portrayal and claimed the connection was more complex. He pointed out that Cheney was respectful, always addressing him in public settings as President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush questioned even descriptions of their relationship as a collaboration because it implied that they were equals. Despite these denials, Cheney found the easygoing president pliable on a broad range of policy decisions.
The Period Following the Attacks
At the head of a group of conservative hawks that featured military head Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the military intervention of Iraq in 2003 in reaction to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. During of the 9/11 strike, Bush had been taking part in a gathering at a educational institution in Florida. As Bush traveled to a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, directing the destruction of any unidentified airplanes heading toward the government building.
Cheney said the strikes transformed him, causing him to be determined on revenge. Together with other neo-conservatives, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a occupation of Afghanistan in an effort to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the invasion of Iraq, although there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein playing a role.
Disputed Decisions
He voiced no apologies about the invasion, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis died, nor about the waterboarding of suspects captured after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was based on misleading information circulated by Cheney, was the correct course of action. "It represented the correct action to do then. I believed it back then and I maintain that stance presently."
However even at the time, there were dissenting voices at a senior level about the poor management of Iraq. One of the White House's own representatives to the Middle East, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the role. "I observed, at a minimum," he wrote later "true dereliction, negligence, and irresponsibility: in the worst case, deception, incompetence, and corruption."
Broader Context
Cheney was not solely responsible for the Iraq campaign. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for such action. He had drafted a memorandum outlining scenarios in which national priorities might be compromised (featuring "obtaining crucial commodities, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "the US should be positioned to take unilateral action when collective action cannot be orchestrated," specifically mentioning military moves against Iraq.
Bush too had arrived in the White House somewhat determined on carrying out what his predecessor had famously refused to do in 1991; topple Saddam. After he had been dismissed by the White House, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his plan of reducing America's participation in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and suggested military action against Iraq.
Bush held a personal grudge against Saddam, convinced he had been behind a scheme to assassinate his father, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He also disliked that one of the largest hotels in Baghdad had a ground design with a likeness of his father's visage that each person had to step on.
Interrogation Methods
However it was Cheney who was among the most outspoken behind attacking Iraq, repeatedly citing agency briefings that were either weak or completely inaccurate. He supported what the Bush government euphemistically referred to as "advanced techniques", the employment of interrogation method and physical pressure.
Answering a Senate analysis in 2014 that concluded that no actionable intelligence had been obtained through the torture, Cheney dismissed the conclusions as "full of crap". He stated to Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to establish protocols and put in place programmes to capture the individuals who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it would not recur. That is precisely what they did and they earn a lot of credit."
Public Image
Cheney took pleasure in nicknames imposed on him by detractors such as the Star Wars villain and The Prince of Darkness, and by the notion that he was a dark force directing Bush. In the journalist's 2013 volume about the pair, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is quoted as saying: "Do I represent the evil genius in the shadows that remains unseen leave his hole? That is a nice way to operate, actually."
Corporate Connections
Controversy over his business interests followed him through his period as second-in-command. Even though he had little experience in commerce but established relationships in security, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial energy conglomerates, in 1995 as chairman and chief executive.
In 2000 he became Bush's VP candidate for the White House. Controversially, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was awarded US contracts valued at billions.
It made him rich. His yearly earnings during his tenure at the firm grew from his previous salary during his time as defence secretary to over four million. When he departed in 2000 he had a package worth over $20m|twenty
