The late US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who passed away at age 84, was seen as arguably the most powerful incumbents of the vice-presidency in US history. Whereas many vice-presidents were limited to minor or ceremonial positions, Cheney held huge power during the presidency of George W Bush, so much so that he was often described as the "true president".
Bush resented that description and said the relationship was more complex. He observed that Cheney was respectful, always referring to him in public settings as Mr President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush questioned even characterisations of their relationship as a partnership because it indicated that they were equals. In spite of these denials, Cheney viewed the easygoing president malleable on a broad range of policy decisions.
A Period Following the Attacks
In charge of a contingent of neo-conservatives that included defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. At the time of the 9/11 assault, Bush had been taking part in a gathering at a educational institution in Florida. As Bush traveled to a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, ordering the destruction of any unidentified aircraft nearing the government building.
Cheney claimed the attacks transformed him, making him become intent on retaliation. Together with other neo-conservatives, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a invasion of Afghanistan in an endeavor to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then pressed fiercely for the invasion of Iraq, although there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Controversial Policies
He showed no remorse about the invasion, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis perished, nor about the waterboarding of suspects captured after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was based on inaccurate reports repeated by Cheney, was the correct path to take. "It was the right thing to do at that time. I believed it at the time and I hold that view now."
However even at the time, there were opposing views at a high level about the poor management of Iraq. One of the White House's own delegates to the Middle East, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the position. "I witnessed, at a minimum," he later wrote "obvious failure, carelessness, and irresponsibility: in the worst case, falsehoods, unfitness, and dishonesty."
Broader Context
Cheney was not entirely to blame for the Iraq military action. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for similar measures. He had drafted a document outlining circumstances in which US concerns might be compromised (including "obtaining essential resources, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "the United States should be postured to operate alone when joint efforts prove impossible," specifically mentioning armed actions against Iraq.
Bush too had entered the presidency generally inclined on implementing what his father had specifically avoided to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. Subsequent to he had been dismissed 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 declared his intention of lowering America's engagement in the regional tensions and proposed armed intervention against Iraq.
Bush held a individual resentment against Saddam, believing he had been behind a scheme to assassinate his father, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally resented that one of the biggest accommodations in Baghdad had a floor mural with a portrait of his parent's visage that all visitors had to tread upon.
Interrogation Methods
Yet it was Cheney who was one of the most vociferous advocating invading Iraq, repeatedly quoting intelligence reports that were both weak or completely misleading. He supported what the Bush administration euphemistically referred to as "advanced techniques", the application of simulated drowning and physical pressure.
Addressing a Senate document in 2014 that found that no valuable data had been obtained through the interrogation methods, Cheney disregarded the conclusions as "riddled with crap". He informed Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to take steps and create programmes to capture the bastards who took the lives of 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it would not recur. That was specifically what they did and they earn a lot of recognition."
Public Persona
Cheney took pleasure in labels assigned to him by critics such as Darth Vader and The Prince of Darkness, and by the notion that he was a sinister influence manipulating Bush. In the author's 2013 publication about the two, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is reported as stating: "Do I represent the sinister strategist in the shadows that remains unseen emerge from his hole? It's a advantageous way to operate, truthfully."
Corporate Connections
Dispute over his commercial relationships pursued him during his tenure as VP. Although he had little experience in business but established relationships in defence, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial oil and gas companies, in 1995 as leader and CEO.
In 2000 he was selected as Bush's running mate for the executive branch. Debatably, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was awarded US contracts worth substantial sums.
It significantly boosted his finances. His annual income during his time at the company grew from his $258,394 while military head to over four million. When he left in 2000 he had a severance arrangement totaling over $20m|twenty
