The deceased US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who died at the age of 84, was regarded as one of the most influential occupants of that position in US history. Whereas numerous vice-presidents had to settle for peripheral or ceremonial functions, Cheney wielded enormous sway during the term of George W Bush, to the point that he was frequently called as the "true president".
Bush disliked that description and claimed the relationship was more complex. He observed that Cheney was deferential, consistently addressing him in public settings as President, while he called him as Dick. Bush disputed even descriptions of their relationship as a partnership because it implied that they were peers. Despite these objections, Cheney viewed the laidback president accommodating on a whole raft of administrative determinations.
The Period Following the Attacks
At the head of a faction of conservative hawks that included Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in reaction to the September 11th attacks on New York and Washington. During of the 9/11 strike, Bush had been participating in a gathering at a school in Florida. Whereas Bush traveled to a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney took command, ordering the shooting down of any unidentified planes heading toward the US Capitol.
Cheney said the strikes transformed him, leading him to become determined on retribution. Along with other conservative figures, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a takeover of Afghanistan in an endeavor to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the invasion of Iraq, although there was little proof of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Debated Policies
He showed no remorse about the military campaign, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis died, or about the waterboarding of individuals rounded up after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was founded on faulty reports echoed by Cheney, was the right decision. "It was the correct action to do then. I believed it then and I maintain that stance now."
Yet even at the time, there were opposing views at a senior level about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the administration's own special envoys to the Middle East, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the post. "I observed, at a minimum," he later wrote "true dereliction, inaction, and irresponsibility: potentially, falsehoods, incompetence, and graft."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not completely responsible for the Iraq military action. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for comparable steps. He had written a memorandum setting out circumstances in which US concerns might be compromised (including "access to vital raw materials, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "the US should be positioned to operate alone when cooperative measures prove impossible," specifically mentioning armed actions against Iraq.
Bush additionally had arrived in the presidency vaguely intent on implementing what his father had famously refused to do in 1991; topple Saddam. Following he had been fired 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 plan of lowering America's participation in the regional tensions and mooted armed intervention against Iraq.
Bush bore a individual resentment against Saddam, thinking he had been involved in a conspiracy to assassinate his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He also objected to that one of the largest hotels in Baghdad had a floor mural with a portrait of his predecessor's face that each person had to step on.
Interrogation Methods
Yet it was Cheney who was among the most vehement supporting invading Iraq, repeatedly citing intelligence reports that were both weak or entirely misleading. He backed what the Bush government politely called as "intensive questioning", the use of simulated drowning and physical pressure.
Addressing a Senate document in 2014 that found that no actionable intelligence had resulted from the interrogation methods, Cheney disregarded the report as "loaded with crap". He told Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to establish protocols and create programmes to catch the perpetrators who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it was not repeated. That is precisely what they did and they merit a lot of praise."
Public Persona
Cheney reveled in nicknames given to him by critics such as Darth Vader and The Prince of Darkness, and by the notion that he was a dark force manipulating Bush. In the journalist's 2013 book about the two, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is cited as commenting: "Am I the evil genius in the shadows that operates invisibly come out of his lair? It's a effective way to work, actually."
Corporate Connections
Controversy over his commercial relationships followed him during his tenure as second-in-command. While he had minimal expertise in business but strong connections in defence, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's biggest oil and gas conglomerates, in 1995 as chair and top executive.
In 2000 he was selected as Bush's running mate for the presidency. Controversially, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was granted US deals worth billions.
It made him rich. His annual income during his time at the corporation grew from his $258,394 when he was Pentagon chief to millions. When he resigned in 2000 he had a compensation package valued at over $20m|twenty
