The former US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who passed away at age 84, was regarded as among the most significant incumbents of that office in US history. Although countless vice-presidents were confined to minor or ceremonial functions, Cheney held huge influence during the administration of George W Bush, to the point that he was commonly called as the "actual president".
Bush resented this portrayal and claimed the connection was more complicated. He pointed out that Cheney was deferential, always addressing him in official appearances as Mr President, while he called him as Dick. Bush challenged even descriptions of their association as a collaboration because it implied that they were equals. Regardless of such protestations, Cheney considered the laidback president malleable on a broad range of governmental choices.
The Post-9/11 Era
Leading of a faction of conservative hawks that encompassed defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the invasion of Iraq in 2003 in reaction to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. At the time of the 9/11 assault, Bush had been attending a meeting at a elementary school in Florida. As Bush traveled to a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, commanding the destruction of any non-communicating aircraft heading toward the Capitol building.
Cheney stated the strikes altered his perspective, making him become determined on retaliation. In conjunction with other neo-cons, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a invasion of Afghanistan in an endeavor to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then pressed fiercely for the armed intervention of Iraq, although there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Controversial Policies
He expressed no regrets about the invasion, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis perished, and not about the harsh treatment of individuals rounded up after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was founded on misleading information repeated by Cheney, was the correct course of action. "It was the proper decision to do back then. I had faith then and I hold that view presently."
Yet even then, there were dissenting voices at a top tier about the botched execution of Iraq. One of the administration's own representatives to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the role. "I observed, at the very least," he later wrote "clear negligence, negligence, and recklessness: potentially, deception, incompetence, and dishonesty."
Broader Context
Cheney was not entirely accountable for the Iraq invasion. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for such action. He had composed a memo setting out scenarios in which American interests might be threatened (featuring "access to crucial commodities, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "America should be positioned to operate alone when joint efforts prove impossible," explicitly citing military moves against Iraq.
Bush also had arrived in the White House somewhat determined on carrying out what his father had specifically avoided to do in 1991; topple Saddam. Following he had been dismissed by the administration, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his plan of diminishing America's engagement in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and suggested military action against Iraq.
Bush bore a private grievance against Saddam, convinced he had been involved in a scheme to murder his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore objected to that one of the biggest hotels in Baghdad had a ground design with a image of his predecessor's visage that everyone had to tread upon.
Questioning Techniques
But it was Cheney who was one of the most vociferous advocating attacking Iraq, repeatedly referencing agency briefings that were both thin or entirely misleading. He supported what the Bush administration indirectly described as "advanced techniques", the use of waterboarding and torture.
Answering a Senate document in 2014 that concluded that no useful information had resulted from the interrogation methods, Cheney rejected the report as "loaded with crap". He informed Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to take steps and create programmes to catch the perpetrators who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it was not repeated. That is precisely what they did and they merit a lot of recognition."
Public Image
Cheney took pleasure in monikers imposed on him by detractors such as the dark character and the dark figure, and by the notion that he was a sinister influence directing Bush. In the author's 2013 publication about the duo, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is cited as commenting: "Do I represent the malevolent mastermind in the shadows that operates invisibly emerge from his domain? It's a nice way to work, in fact."
Commercial Ties
Controversy over his commercial relationships accompanied him through his period as vice-president. Even though he had limited background in commerce but established relationships in security, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's biggest petroleum conglomerates, in 1995 as chair and chief executive.
In 2000 he became Bush's running mate for the presidency. Controversially, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was granted US agreements worth multiple billions.
It significantly boosted his finances. His yearly earnings during his tenure at the company grew from his previous salary during his time as defence secretary to over four million. When he resigned in 2000 he had a compensation package totaling in excess of $20m|twenty
