The former US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who died at age 84, was regarded as among the most powerful occupants of that office in the nation's history. Whereas many vice-presidents had to settle for peripheral or figurehead roles, Cheney exercised substantial sway during the presidency of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was frequently described as the "actual president".
Bush disliked this portrayal and claimed the relationship was more nuanced. He noted that Cheney was deferential, invariably addressing him in public settings as President, while he called him as Dick. Bush disputed even portrayals of their partnership as a partnership because it suggested that they were on equal footing. Regardless of such protestations, Cheney found the relaxed president malleable on a wide array of policy decisions.
A Period Following the Attacks
At the head of a group of neo-conservatives that featured military head Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the invasion of Iraq in 2003 in reaction 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 downing of any unresponsive aircraft nearing the Capitol building.
Cheney stated the strikes transformed him, leading him to become focused on retribution. In conjunction with other conservative figures, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a invasion of Afghanistan in an attempt to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the armed intervention of Iraq, although there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Debated Decisions
He expressed no regrets about the invasion, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis perished, and not about the waterboarding of individuals rounded up after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was predicated on inaccurate reports echoed by Cheney, was the right decision. "It represented the proper decision to do back then. I believed it then and I maintain that stance today."
However even then, there were dissenting voices at a high level about the poor management of Iraq. One of the White House's own special envoys to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the post. "I saw, at a minimum," he subsequently stated "true dereliction, negligence, and irresponsibility: at worst, falsehoods, incompetence, and dishonesty."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not solely responsible for the Iraq campaign. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for similar measures. He had composed a memorandum detailing circumstances in which national priorities might be endangered (including "obtaining essential resources, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "the US should be prepared to operate alone when collective action prove impossible," particularly mentioning armed actions against Iraq.
Bush additionally had arrived in the Oval Office generally inclined on carrying out what his predecessor had specifically avoided to do in 1991; remove Saddam. After he had been dismissed by the White House, the finance chief Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his plan of reducing America's participation in the Middle East dispute and mooted armed intervention against Iraq.
Bush bore a personal grudge against Saddam, thinking he had been behind a plot to kill his parent, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally disliked that one of the most prominent establishments in Baghdad had a ground design with a likeness of his predecessor's face that all visitors had to step on.
Interrogation Methods
But it was Cheney who was one of the most vehement advocating invading Iraq, repeatedly citing intelligence reports that were whether thin or totally deceptive. He backed what the Bush White House euphemistically referred to as "advanced techniques", the employment of interrogation method and physical pressure.
Addressing a Senate analysis in 2014 that determined that no useful information had resulted from the interrogation methods, Cheney rejected the findings as "loaded with crap". He stated to Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to implement measures and put in place procedures to apprehend the perpetrators who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it never happened again. That was specifically what they did and they earn a lot of praise."
External Perception
Cheney enjoyed labels assigned to him by detractors such as the Star Wars villain and the sinister presence, and by the concept that he was a sinister influence controlling Bush. In the author's 2013 volume about the duo, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is reported as stating: "Do I represent the evil genius in the background that nobody ever sees come out of his hole? That is a effective way to function, truthfully."
Corporate Connections
Dispute over his corporate affiliations pursued him through his period as vice-president. While he had limited background in commerce but established relationships in security, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's largest petroleum conglomerates, in 1995 as leader and top executive.
In 2000 he was selected as Bush's election partner for the executive branch. Debatably, during the military campaign, Halliburton was awarded US agreements totaling multiple billions.
It significantly boosted his finances. His yearly earnings during his period at the corporation rose from his quarter-million dollars during his time as defence secretary to over four million. When he left in 2000 he had a compensation package valued at over $20m|twenty
