The late US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who passed away at the age of 84, was considered among the most powerful holders of that office in the nation's history. Although numerous vice-presidents had to settle for marginal or ceremonial functions, Cheney held huge power during the administration of George W Bush, so much so that he was commonly described as the "actual president".
Bush disliked such a characterisation and stated the dynamic was more nuanced. He pointed out that Cheney was deferential, invariably referring to him in public as the President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush disputed even portrayals of their relationship as a collaboration because it indicated that they were on equal footing. In spite of such protestations, Cheney viewed the easygoing president accommodating on a whole raft of governmental choices.
The Aftermath of 9/11
In charge of a contingent of neo-conservatives that featured Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the invasion of Iraq in 2003 in response to the September 11th attacks on New York and Washington. During of the 9/11 strike, Bush had been attending a meeting at a school in Florida. As Bush traveled to a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney took command, commanding the downing of any non-communicating airplanes approaching the Capitol building.
Cheney said the strikes changed him, leading him to become focused on retaliation. In conjunction with other conservative figures, 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 military action of Iraq, although there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein playing a role.
Disputed Policies
He voiced no apologies about the armed intervention, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, or about the harsh treatment of detainees captured after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was based on faulty intelligence repeated by Cheney, was the proper decision. "It was the right thing to do then. I believed it then and I hold that view now."
But during that period, there were contrary opinions 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 dismissed from the role. "I observed, at the very least," he wrote later "clear negligence, inaction, and unaccountability: in the worst case, falsehoods, ineptitude, and corruption."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not solely accountable for the Iraq invasion. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for such action. He had composed a memorandum detailing circumstances in which US concerns might be threatened (featuring "availability of vital raw materials, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "the US should be prepared to operate alone when cooperative measures cannot be arranged," particularly mentioning military moves against Iraq.
Bush additionally had assumed the presidency generally inclined on carrying out what his father had notably declined to do in 1991; topple Saddam. Subsequent to he had been sacked by the president, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill disclosed how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his objective of reducing America's participation in the regional tensions and suggested armed intervention against Iraq.
Bush carried a individual resentment against Saddam, thinking he had been involved in a scheme to murder his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore objected to that one of the largest accommodations in Baghdad had a ground design with a likeness of his parent's face that everyone had to step on.
Questioning Techniques
But it was Cheney who was among the most outspoken supporting striking Iraq, consistently quoting information documents that were both insubstantial or entirely deceptive. He endorsed what the Bush government euphemistically referred to as "enhanced interrogation", the application of interrogation method and torture.
Answering a Senate analysis in 2014 that found that no useful information had been obtained through the harsh techniques, Cheney rejected the conclusions as "riddled with crap". He stated to Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to take steps and create initiatives to apprehend the perpetrators who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it was not repeated. That was specifically what they did and they merit a lot of credit."
External Perception
Cheney took pleasure in labels assigned to him by opponents such as the Star Wars villain and the dark figure, and by the concept that he was a sinister influence manipulating Bush. In Peter Baker's 2013 book about the pair, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is cited as commenting: "Do I represent the malevolent mastermind in the corner that operates invisibly emerge from his hole? That is a effective way to operate, in fact."
Commercial Ties
Controversy over his corporate affiliations accompanied him through his period as vice-president. Even though he had minimal expertise in commerce but strong connections in military, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial energy corporations, in 1995 as chairman and chief executive.
In 2000 he became Bush's VP candidate for the presidency. Controversially, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was granted US agreements worth multiple billions.
It significantly boosted his finances. His annual income during his tenure at the corporation grew from his $258,394 when he was military head to millions. When he resigned in 2000 he had a package valued at in excess of $20m|twenty
