The former US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who died at the age of 84, was seen as among the most powerful incumbents of that office in American history. While countless vice-presidents had to settle for marginal or ceremonial roles, Cheney wielded substantial sway during the administration of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was commonly referred to as the "true president".
Bush objected to this portrayal and said the relationship was more nuanced. He pointed out that Cheney was courteous, consistently calling him in public as Mr President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush disputed even characterisations of their relationship as a collaboration because it suggested that they were equals. Despite these objections, Cheney considered the laidback president pliable on a broad range of administrative determinations.
A Period Following the Attacks
Leading of a group of neo-cons that included military head Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the military intervention of Iraq in 2003 in reaction to the September 11th attacks on New York and Washington. At the time of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been attending a session at a elementary school in Florida. Whereas Bush traveled to a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney took command, ordering the shooting down of any unidentified planes nearing the government building.
Cheney stated the strikes altered his perspective, leading him to become intent on retribution. In conjunction with other neo-conservatives, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a occupation of Afghanistan in an effort to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then pressed fiercely for the armed intervention of Iraq, although there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein having involvement.
Disputed Policies
He showed no remorse about the invasion, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis perished, or about the enhanced interrogation of suspects apprehended after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was founded on inaccurate reports circulated by Cheney, was the right course of action. "It represented the right thing to do back then. I believed it back then and I believe it today."
However even at the time, there were dissenting voices at a high level about the botched execution of Iraq. One of the government's own special envoys to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the position. "I observed, at the very least," he wrote later "obvious failure, carelessness, and unaccountability: in the worst case, deception, unfitness, and dishonesty."
Broader Context
Cheney was not entirely accountable for the Iraq military action. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for such action. He had composed a memorandum detailing scenarios in which American interests might be compromised (featuring "obtaining crucial commodities, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "the US should be prepared to take unilateral action when collective action cannot be arranged," specifically citing military moves against Iraq.
Bush also had assumed the Oval Office somewhat determined on carrying out what his predecessor had specifically avoided to do in 1991; topple Saddam. Subsequent to he had been fired by the White House, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his intention of reducing America's involvement in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and suggested military action against Iraq.
Bush bore a individual resentment against Saddam, convinced he had been responsible for a plot to kill his father, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore resented that one of the biggest establishments in Baghdad had a floor mural with a portrait of his predecessor's face that all visitors had to tread upon.
Questioning Techniques
However it was Cheney who was among the most vociferous advocating invading Iraq, repeatedly quoting agency briefings that were both weak or completely misleading. He endorsed what the Bush White House euphemistically referred to as "advanced techniques", the application of interrogation method and harsh treatment.
Answering a Senate report in 2014 that found that no actionable intelligence had come from the harsh techniques, Cheney dismissed the conclusions as "full of crap". He informed Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to take steps and create initiatives to apprehend the perpetrators who took the lives of 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it was not repeated. That was specifically what they did and they earn a lot of credit."
Public Image
Cheney took pleasure in monikers imposed on him by critics such as the Star Wars villain and The Prince of Darkness, and by the notion that he was a dark force controlling Bush. In the journalist's 2013 publication about the duo, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is cited as commenting: "Is it me who is the sinister strategist in the corner that operates invisibly leave his hole? This represents a advantageous way to operate, in fact."
Corporate Connections
Debate over his business interests accompanied him through his period as VP. Even though he had little experience in corporate affairs but good contacts in defence, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's largest oil and gas corporations, in 1995 as chair and chief executive.
In 2000 he was selected as Bush's VP candidate for the executive branch. Debatably, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was granted US deals worth multiple billions.
It made him rich. His yearly compensation during his period at the company rose from his $258,394 during his time as military head to millions. When he resigned in 2000 he had a package worth over $20m|twenty
