The former US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who died at the age of 84, was seen as among the most influential occupants of that office in the nation's history. While many vice-presidents were confined to marginal or figurehead roles, Cheney wielded substantial power during the presidency of George W Bush, so much so that he was often referred to as the "actual president".
Bush objected to such a characterisation and said the relationship was more complicated. He pointed out that Cheney was respectful, always addressing him in public as Mr President, while he called him as Dick. Bush challenged even characterisations of their relationship as a partnership because it suggested that they were on equal footing. Regardless of such protestations, Cheney viewed the relaxed president accommodating on a wide array of policy decisions.
The Period Following the Attacks
At the head of a faction of neo-cons that featured defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the invasion of Iraq in 2003 in response to the September 11th attacks on New York and Washington. At the time of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been attending a gathering at a elementary school in Florida. Whereas Bush headed for a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney took command, ordering the shooting down of any unidentified airplanes nearing the government building.
Cheney stated the attacks altered his perspective, leading him to become determined on retribution. In conjunction with other neo-conservatives, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a invasion of Afghanistan in an effort to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the military action of Iraq, even though there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein having involvement.
Debated Actions
He expressed no regrets about the armed intervention, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis perished, and not about the harsh treatment of individuals rounded up after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was based on misleading information echoed by Cheney, was the correct path to take. "It proved to be the correct action to do then. I had faith back then and I believe it now."
However during that period, there were dissenting voices at a senior level about the mishandling 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, as a baseline," he subsequently stated "clear negligence, carelessness, and recklessness: potentially, falsehoods, incompetence, and dishonesty."
Additional Factors
Cheney was not solely to blame for the Iraq military action. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for comparable steps. He had written a document setting out scenarios in which national priorities might be threatened (including "availability of essential resources, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "America should be prepared to act independently when joint efforts prove impossible," explicitly mentioning defense operations against Iraq.
Bush also had arrived in the Oval Office somewhat determined on carrying out what his parent had notably declined to do in 1991; topple Saddam. Subsequent to he had been dismissed by the White House, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill disclosed how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his intention of reducing America's involvement in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and proposed defense operations against Iraq.
Bush carried a private grievance against Saddam, convinced he had been behind a plot to murder his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore resented that one of the most prominent establishments in Baghdad had a ground design with a likeness of his parent's countenance that all visitors had to walk over.
Interrogation Methods
But it was Cheney who was one of the most vehement supporting striking Iraq, consistently referencing intelligence reports that were whether thin or completely inaccurate. He endorsed what the Bush government politely called as "intensive questioning", the use of interrogation method and physical pressure.
Responding to a Senate report in 2014 that determined that no valuable data had resulted from the harsh techniques, Cheney rejected the report as "riddled with crap". He informed Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to establish protocols and put in place initiatives to apprehend the individuals who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it would not recur. That's exactly what they did and they deserve a lot of recognition."
Public Image
Cheney took pleasure in nicknames given to him by critics such as Darth Vader and the sinister presence, and by the concept that he was a dark force directing Bush. In the author's 2013 book about the duo, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is cited as commenting: "Am I the sinister strategist in the shadows that operates invisibly come out of his lair? It's a effective way to operate, actually."
Business Interests
Debate over his corporate affiliations pursued him through his period as second-in-command. Although he had minimal expertise in commerce but strong connections in military, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial oil and gas conglomerates, in 1995 as chairman and CEO.
In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's election partner for the presidency. Contentiously, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was awarded US deals worth substantial sums.
It significantly boosted his finances. His yearly compensation during his period at the corporation increased from his quarter-million dollars while Pentagon chief to over four million. When he departed in 2000 he had a severance arrangement worth more than $20m|twenty
