The deceased US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who died at age 84, was seen as among the most influential holders of the vice-presidency in American history. While countless VPs had to settle for peripheral or ceremonial functions, Cheney held substantial power during the presidency of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was commonly called as the "true president".
Bush objected to such a characterisation and stated the connection was more nuanced. He observed that Cheney was respectful, always calling him in public settings as Mr President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush questioned even characterisations of their partnership as a partnership because it indicated that they were equals. Despite these denials, Cheney considered the laidback president pliable on a whole raft of administrative determinations.
The Post-9/11 Era
At the head of a contingent of neo-cons that featured military head Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in reaction to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. During of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been attending a meeting at a educational institution in Florida. While Bush traveled to a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, commanding the downing of any unresponsive planes nearing the Capitol building.
Cheney said the strikes altered his perspective, causing him to be focused on revenge. Together with other neo-cons, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a invasion of Afghanistan in an endeavor to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the invasion of Iraq, although there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein playing a role.
Controversial Decisions
He showed no remorse about the armed intervention, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis died, nor about the enhanced interrogation of suspects captured after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was based on misleading intelligence circulated by Cheney, was the right decision. "It represented the right thing to do back then. I was convinced then and I maintain that stance presently."
Yet during that period, there were dissenting voices at a senior level about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the government's own representatives to the Middle East, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the post. "I witnessed, at a minimum," he wrote later "clear negligence, inaction, and unaccountability: in the worst case, deception, incompetence, and dishonesty."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not completely accountable for the Iraq invasion. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for comparable steps. He had composed a document setting out circumstances in which national priorities might be compromised (including "availability of crucial commodities, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "the US should be postured to operate alone when joint efforts prove impossible," specifically referencing military moves against Iraq.
Bush additionally had assumed the presidency somewhat determined on executing what his parent had notably declined to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. Following he had been fired by the White House, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill disclosed 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 Middle East dispute and suggested military action against Iraq.
Bush bore a individual resentment against Saddam, believing he had been involved in a scheme to assassinate his parent, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He also objected to that one of the most prominent accommodations in Baghdad had a ground design with a portrait of his predecessor's countenance that each person had to step on.
Interrogation Methods
But it was Cheney who was among the most outspoken behind attacking Iraq, consistently referencing agency briefings that were whether insubstantial or completely misleading. He endorsed what the Bush White House politely called as "enhanced interrogation", the application of waterboarding and torture.
Addressing a Senate analysis in 2014 that found that no actionable intelligence had been obtained through the torture, Cheney dismissed the conclusions as "full of crap". He told Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to take steps and establish procedures to capture the individuals who took the lives of 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it never happened again. That was specifically what they did and they deserve a lot of praise."
Public Image
Cheney took pleasure in monikers given to him by opponents such as the Star Wars villain and the dark figure, and by the notion that he was a dark force controlling Bush. In the author's 2013 volume about the pair, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is quoted as saying: "Am I the malevolent mastermind in the shadows that remains unseen emerge from his hole? This represents a advantageous way to work, in fact."
Commercial Ties
Dispute over his corporate affiliations accompanied him throughout his time as second-in-command. Even though he had little experience in commerce but established relationships in defence, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial energy corporations, in 1995 as leader and CEO.
In 2000 he became Bush's election partner for the presidency. Controversially, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was awarded US deals valued at substantial sums.
It made him rich. His yearly earnings during his tenure at the corporation grew from his quarter-million dollars when he was defence secretary to over four million. When he resigned in 2000 he had a compensation package worth over $20m|twenty
