The former US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who passed away at the age of 84, was considered arguably the most influential holders of that position in US history. While countless vice-presidents had to settle for peripheral or symbolic positions, Cheney held enormous power during the term of George W Bush, to the point that he was commonly called as the "actual president".
Bush resented this portrayal and stated the relationship was more complex. He observed that Cheney was deferential, always addressing him in official appearances as the President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush questioned even portrayals of their association as a collaboration because it suggested that they were peers. Regardless of these objections, Cheney found the easygoing president pliable on a broad range of administrative determinations.
A Period Following the Attacks
At the head of a group of conservative hawks that featured Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted 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 attending a gathering at a educational institution in Florida. As Bush made his way to a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, commanding the downing of any unresponsive planes nearing the US Capitol.
Cheney stated the attacks transformed him, leading him to become determined on revenge. Along with other neo-conservatives, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a occupation of Afghanistan in an attempt to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the military action of Iraq, although there was little proof of Saddam Hussein playing a role.
Controversial Policies
He expressed no regrets about the invasion, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, nor about the enhanced interrogation of individuals apprehended after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was predicated on misleading information repeated by Cheney, was the right decision. "It proved to be the right thing to do back then. I believed it at the time and I believe it today."
But during that period, there were contrary opinions at a top tier about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the White House's own special envoys to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the role. "I witnessed, at a minimum," he subsequently stated "clear negligence, negligence, and recklessness: in the worst case, lying, incompetence, and dishonesty."
Additional Factors
Cheney was not completely accountable for the Iraq invasion. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for similar measures. He had drafted a memo detailing scenarios in which national priorities might be endangered (featuring "availability of essential resources, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "America should be prepared to take unilateral action when collective action prove impossible," explicitly referencing defense operations against Iraq.
Bush additionally had arrived in the White House somewhat determined on implementing what his father had notably declined to do in 1991; topple Saddam. Following he had been fired by the administration, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his intention of diminishing America's engagement in the regional tensions and proposed armed intervention against Iraq.
Bush carried a private grievance against Saddam, thinking he had been responsible for a scheme to kill his father, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He also disliked that one of the most prominent accommodations in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a likeness of his predecessor's countenance that everyone had to walk over.
Questioning Techniques
Yet it was Cheney who was among the most vociferous behind invading Iraq, consistently quoting information documents that were both insubstantial or entirely inaccurate. He backed what the Bush administration indirectly described as "advanced techniques", the use of waterboarding and harsh treatment.
Answering a Senate report in 2014 that concluded that no actionable intelligence had resulted from the interrogation methods, Cheney dismissed the findings as "riddled with crap". He informed Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to establish protocols and put in place initiatives to catch the individuals who took the lives of 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it was not repeated. That is precisely what they did and they earn a lot of credit."
Public Image
Cheney reveled in labels imposed on him by detractors such as Darth Vader and the dark figure, and by the concept that he was a dark force directing Bush. In the author's 2013 volume about the two, 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 remains unseen come out of his hole? This represents a nice way to work, truthfully."
Corporate Connections
Controversy over his commercial relationships pursued him throughout his time as VP. Even though he had minimal expertise in commerce but strong connections in military, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's biggest energy companies, in 1995 as chairman and chief executive.
In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's election partner for the White House. Contentiously, during the military campaign, Halliburton was granted US contracts worth substantial sums.
It made him rich. His annual income during his period at the corporation increased from his previous salary while defence secretary to over four million. When he departed in 2000 he had a compensation package worth more than $20m|twenty
