The late US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who passed away at age 84, was regarded as arguably the most influential occupants of that position in US history. Although countless vice-presidents were limited to minor or ceremonial functions, Cheney wielded enormous power during the administration of George W Bush, so much so that he was often described as the "actual president".
Bush disliked such a characterisation and stated the dynamic was more nuanced. He observed that Cheney was deferential, always addressing him in public as Mr President, while he called him as Dick. Bush challenged even portrayals of their partnership as a team because it implied that they were equals. In spite of such protestations, Cheney found the relaxed president accommodating on a wide array of administrative determinations.
The Period Following the Attacks
At the head of a group of conservative hawks that included military head Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in response to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. During of the 9/11 strike, Bush had been taking part in a meeting at a educational institution in Florida. While Bush traveled to a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, ordering the destruction of any unresponsive aircraft heading toward the US Capitol.
Cheney said the attacks changed him, making him become intent on retribution. In conjunction with other neo-conservatives, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a takeover of Afghanistan in an attempt to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the armed intervention of Iraq, though there was little proof of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Disputed Policies
He expressed no regrets about the armed intervention, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis died, and not about the waterboarding of individuals captured after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was founded on inaccurate intelligence circulated by Cheney, was the correct path to take. "It represented the correct action to do back then. I was convinced then and I believe it presently."
But even at the time, there were dissenting voices at a high level about the poor management of Iraq. One of the administration's own special envoys to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the role. "I saw, at a minimum," he wrote later "true dereliction, negligence, and unaccountability: in the worst case, lying, ineptitude, and corruption."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not completely accountable for the Iraq campaign. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for comparable steps. He had written a memorandum setting out circumstances in which US concerns might be threatened (encompassing "obtaining essential resources, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "America should be positioned to act independently when cooperative measures cannot be orchestrated," specifically citing defense operations against Iraq.
Bush also had arrived in the Oval Office somewhat determined on implementing what his predecessor had notably declined to do in 1991; remove Saddam. Following he had been sacked 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 stated his objective of lowering America's participation in the regional tensions and proposed defense operations against Iraq.
Bush carried a personal grudge against Saddam, convinced he had been involved in a conspiracy to assassinate his parent, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally objected to that one of the biggest accommodations in Baghdad had a ground design with a likeness of his predecessor's face that all visitors had to step on.
Questioning Techniques
But it was Cheney who was among the most vehement behind invading Iraq, frequently referencing agency briefings that were both weak or completely inaccurate. He supported what the Bush administration indirectly described as "enhanced interrogation", the employment of interrogation method and torture.
Responding to a Senate analysis in 2014 that found that no useful information had resulted from the torture, Cheney dismissed the report as "full of crap". He stated to Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to take steps and establish initiatives to apprehend the perpetrators who took the lives of 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it would not recur. That's exactly what they did and they earn a lot of recognition."
Public Image
Cheney took pleasure in monikers given to him by detractors such as the Star Wars villain and the dark figure, and by the idea that he was a dark force manipulating Bush. In Peter Baker'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 background that nobody ever sees emerge from his lair? It's a effective way to function, actually."
Corporate Connections
Debate over his commercial relationships pursued him during his tenure as VP. Although he had minimal expertise in commerce but established relationships in military, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's largest petroleum conglomerates, in 1995 as leader and chief executive.
In 2000 he became Bush's VP candidate for the White House. Contentiously, during the military campaign, Halliburton was given US agreements valued at substantial sums.
It greatly increased his wealth. His yearly compensation during his tenure at the corporation increased from his previous salary during his time as military head to over four million. When he departed in 2000 he had a compensation package worth in excess of $20m|twenty
