The former US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who passed away at the age of 84, was considered one of the most influential holders of that office in the nation's history. While many VPs had to settle for marginal or figurehead roles, Cheney exercised enormous power during the administration of George W Bush, so much so that he was commonly referred to as the "true president".
Bush resented such a characterisation and claimed the dynamic was more complicated. He noted that Cheney was respectful, invariably referring to him in public as the President, while he called him as Dick. Bush challenged even descriptions of their relationship as a collaboration because it implied that they were on equal footing. Regardless of these objections, Cheney found the easygoing president pliable on a whole raft of policy decisions.
The Aftermath of 9/11
In charge of a faction of neo-cons that encompassed defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the invasion of Iraq in 2003 in response to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. During of the 9/11 strike, Bush had been taking part in a gathering at a elementary school in Florida. While Bush traveled to a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, commanding the destruction of any non-communicating planes approaching the Capitol building.
Cheney stated the assaults changed him, causing him to be focused on retaliation. Together with other neo-conservatives, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a takeover of Afghanistan in an endeavor to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the armed intervention of Iraq, although there was little proof of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Debated Policies
He voiced no apologies about the military campaign, 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 predicated on misleading reports circulated by Cheney, was the right decision. "It represented the proper decision to do back then. I had faith then and I hold that view presently."
However even then, there were contrary opinions at a high level about the botched execution of Iraq. One of the administration's own delegates to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the post. "I observed, at the very least," he wrote later "clear negligence, negligence, and recklessness: potentially, lying, unfitness, and corruption."
Broader Context
Cheney was not completely responsible for the Iraq military action. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for such action. He had drafted a memo detailing circumstances in which American interests might be threatened (encompassing "availability of essential resources, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "the United States should be positioned to operate alone when cooperative measures cannot be arranged," specifically referencing armed actions against Iraq.
Bush too had arrived in the Oval Office generally inclined on implementing what his predecessor had famously refused to do in 1991; topple Saddam. Subsequent to he had been dismissed by the administration, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his intention of reducing America's engagement in the Middle East dispute and mooted military action against Iraq.
Bush carried a personal grudge against Saddam, convinced he had been involved in a scheme to kill his father, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He also objected to that one of the most prominent hotels in Baghdad had a ground design with a image of his parent's face that all visitors had to tread upon.
Questioning Techniques
However it was Cheney who was among the most vociferous behind attacking Iraq, repeatedly citing agency briefings that were whether insubstantial or totally deceptive. He endorsed what the Bush administration euphemistically referred to as "enhanced interrogation", the employment of interrogation method and physical pressure.
Addressing a Senate analysis in 2014 that determined that no useful information had come from the torture, Cheney rejected the findings as "loaded with crap". He informed Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to implement measures and establish programmes to apprehend the perpetrators who took the lives of 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it was not repeated. That was specifically what they did and they merit a lot of recognition."
Public Image
Cheney enjoyed monikers given to him by critics such as the Star Wars villain and the sinister presence, and by the notion that he was a sinister influence directing Bush. In the journalist's 2013 publication about the pair, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is quoted as saying: "Is it me who is the malevolent mastermind in the corner that operates invisibly come out of his domain? This represents a nice way to function, in fact."
Corporate Connections
Debate over his corporate affiliations followed him throughout his time as vice-president. Although he had limited background in business but established relationships in security, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's largest energy corporations, in 1995 as leader and chief executive.
In 2000 he was selected as Bush's running mate for the White House. Controversially, during the military campaign, Halliburton was given US agreements totaling billions.
It significantly boosted his finances. His annual income during his tenure at the corporation increased from his quarter-million dollars while military head to over four million. When he resigned in 2000 he had a compensation package totaling over $20m|twenty
