The former US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who passed away at age 84, was seen as one of the most influential occupants of the vice-presidency in the nation's history. While many vice-presidents were limited to marginal or figurehead roles, Cheney wielded huge influence during the presidency of George W Bush, to the point that he was commonly referred to as the "real president".
Bush resented this portrayal and stated the connection was more complicated. He pointed out that Cheney was respectful, consistently addressing him in official appearances as President, while he called him as Dick. Bush questioned even characterisations of their relationship as a partnership because it implied that they were peers. In spite of these objections, Cheney found the relaxed president malleable on a wide array of governmental choices.
A Post-9/11 Era
At the head of a contingent of neo-conservatives that included military head Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in response to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been attending a meeting at a educational institution in Florida. While Bush traveled to a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, ordering the shooting down of any non-communicating aircraft heading toward the Capitol building.
Cheney stated the attacks transformed him, causing him to be focused on retaliation. In conjunction with other neo-cons, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a takeover of Afghanistan in an effort to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the armed intervention of Iraq, although there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein having involvement.
Debated Policies
He voiced no apologies about the armed intervention, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, and not about the harsh treatment of suspects apprehended after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was based on faulty reports repeated by Cheney, was the correct decision. "It proved to be the right thing to do at that time. I believed it then and I believe it today."
But during that period, there were opposing views at a high level about the botched execution of Iraq. One of the White House's own delegates to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the role. "I saw, at the very least," he wrote later "clear negligence, negligence, and irresponsibility: in the worst case, falsehoods, ineptitude, and corruption."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not solely accountable for the Iraq campaign. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for such action. He had written a memorandum detailing scenarios in which American interests might be threatened (including "access to essential resources, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "America should be positioned to operate alone when collective action cannot be orchestrated," specifically referencing armed actions against Iraq.
Bush additionally had arrived in the Oval Office generally inclined on carrying out what his predecessor had notably declined to do in 1991; remove Saddam. After he had been fired by the White House, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the first meeting of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had announced his objective of lowering America's involvement in the regional tensions and suggested armed intervention against Iraq.
Bush carried a personal grudge against Saddam, believing he had been responsible for a scheme to assassinate his parent, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He also objected to that one of the most prominent accommodations in Baghdad had a floor mural with a portrait of his predecessor's face that each person had to walk over.
Interrogation Methods
But it was Cheney who was among the most outspoken advocating invading Iraq, consistently citing agency briefings that were both weak or entirely deceptive. He endorsed what the Bush administration euphemistically referred to as "intensive questioning", the application of waterboarding and harsh treatment.
Addressing a Senate document in 2014 that determined that no valuable data had been obtained through the interrogation methods, Cheney disregarded the report as "loaded with crap". He stated to Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to implement measures and create initiatives to capture the bastards who took the lives of 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it would not recur. That was specifically what they did and they merit a lot of recognition."
Public Image
Cheney took pleasure in labels given to him by opponents such as the dark character and The Prince of Darkness, and by the notion that he was a shadow power manipulating Bush. In the journalist's 2013 publication about the two, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is reported as stating: "Am I the malevolent mastermind in the corner that remains unseen come out of his domain? It's a effective way to function, in fact."
Corporate Connections
Controversy over his commercial relationships followed him during his tenure as VP. While he had limited background in commerce but strong connections in defence, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's biggest petroleum companies, in 1995 as chair and top executive.
In 2000 he was selected as Bush's running mate for the presidency. Contentiously, during the military campaign, Halliburton was granted US agreements totaling substantial sums.
It greatly increased his wealth. His annual income during his tenure at the corporation increased from his quarter-million dollars while Pentagon chief to $4.4m. When he resigned in 2000 he had a compensation package totaling more than $20m|twenty
