The former US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who passed away at age 84, was regarded as among the most influential incumbents of that position in US history. While numerous second-in-commands were confined to minor or ceremonial roles, Cheney held substantial influence during the administration of George W Bush, so much so that he was frequently described as the "real president".
Bush resented that description and claimed the connection was more complicated. He pointed out that Cheney was courteous, invariably calling him in public settings as President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush questioned even portrayals of their partnership as a team because it indicated that they were equals. Despite such protestations, Cheney considered the relaxed president pliable on a broad range of administrative determinations.
The Period Following the Attacks
Leading of a group of neo-conservatives that included Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence 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. At the time of the 9/11 assault, Bush had been participating in a meeting at a elementary school in Florida. Whereas Bush traveled to a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, ordering the downing of any unresponsive planes nearing the US Capitol.
Cheney stated the assaults altered his perspective, making him become determined on revenge. In conjunction with other neo-cons, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a takeover of Afghanistan in an attempt to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then pressed fiercely for the armed intervention of Iraq, even though there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein having involvement.
Debated Policies
He showed no remorse about the armed intervention, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis perished, nor about the enhanced interrogation of detainees captured after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was predicated on misleading intelligence repeated by Cheney, was the right course of action. "It was the right thing to do back then. I believed it then and I maintain that stance now."
But 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 region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the post. "I witnessed, at a minimum," he wrote later "obvious failure, inaction, and irresponsibility: in the worst case, deception, ineptitude, and dishonesty."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not entirely responsible for the Iraq military action. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for similar measures. He had drafted a memorandum setting out situations in which US concerns might be compromised (encompassing "availability of essential resources, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "the US should be prepared to take unilateral action when joint efforts cannot be orchestrated," specifically referencing military moves against Iraq.
Bush too had assumed the Oval Office somewhat determined on carrying out what his parent had specifically avoided to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. After he had been fired by the president, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the first meeting of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his plan of reducing America's involvement in the regional tensions and proposed defense operations against Iraq.
Bush bore a personal grudge against Saddam, convinced he had been responsible for a plot to murder his father, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He also objected to that one of the most prominent establishments in Baghdad had a ground design with a portrait of his predecessor's face that all visitors had to step on.
Questioning Techniques
But it was Cheney who was one of the most outspoken supporting invading Iraq, consistently referencing intelligence reports that were either weak or totally misleading. He supported what the Bush administration euphemistically referred to as "advanced techniques", the use of simulated drowning and harsh treatment.
Responding to a Senate report in 2014 that concluded that no useful information had resulted from the interrogation methods, Cheney dismissed the report as "riddled with crap". He told Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to implement measures and establish programmes to capture the bastards who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it never happened again. That's exactly what they did and they merit a lot of credit."
Public Persona
Cheney reveled in nicknames imposed on him by detractors such as the Star Wars villain and the dark figure, and by the concept that he was a shadow power controlling Bush. In the journalist's 2013 book about the pair, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is reported as stating: "Am I the malevolent mastermind in the shadows that nobody ever sees leave his hole? This represents a nice way to work, truthfully."
Business Interests
Controversy over his corporate affiliations pursued him during his tenure as second-in-command. Although he had little experience in commerce but established relationships in military, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's largest oil and gas conglomerates, in 1995 as chair and chief executive.
In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's election partner for the presidency. Contentiously, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was granted US contracts worth billions.
It made him rich. His annual income during his tenure at the company increased from his previous salary during his time as Pentagon chief to $4.4m. When he left in 2000 he had a compensation package worth over $20m|twenty
