The deceased US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who died at the age of 84, was considered one of the most significant occupants of that office in American history. Although countless vice-presidents were limited to minor or symbolic positions, Cheney exercised huge power during the administration of George W Bush, so much so that he was commonly called as the "true president".
Bush disliked this portrayal and stated the dynamic was more complicated. He noted that Cheney was respectful, invariably addressing him in official appearances as the President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush challenged even portrayals of their partnership as a collaboration because it implied that they were peers. Despite such protestations, Cheney considered the easygoing president malleable on a whole raft of policy decisions.
A Period Following the Attacks
In charge of a faction of neo-cons that encompassed defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the military intervention of Iraq in 2003 in response to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 assault, Bush had been participating in a session at a educational institution in Florida. Whereas Bush made his way to a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, directing the downing of any unidentified airplanes approaching the government building.
Cheney claimed the strikes altered his perspective, making him become focused on retaliation. In conjunction with other conservative figures, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a invasion of Afghanistan in an effort to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then pressed fiercely for the military action of Iraq, though there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Debated Policies
He expressed no regrets about the armed intervention, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis died, nor about the waterboarding of individuals rounded up after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was predicated on inaccurate intelligence repeated by Cheney, was the proper path to take. "It proved to be the proper decision to do back then. I had faith at the time and I hold that view presently."
But even at the time, there were dissenting voices at a top tier about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the administration's own representatives to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the position. "I witnessed, at a minimum," he subsequently stated "clear negligence, inaction, and irresponsibility: in the worst case, falsehoods, incompetence, and corruption."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not solely responsible for the Iraq invasion. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for such action. He had written a memorandum detailing scenarios in which American interests might be compromised (including "access to crucial commodities, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "America should be postured to operate alone when cooperative measures prove impossible," explicitly mentioning defense operations against Iraq.
Bush also had assumed the White House generally inclined on carrying out what his father had specifically avoided to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. After he had been fired by the White House, the finance chief Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the first meeting of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had announced his objective of reducing America's involvement in the regional tensions and proposed military action against Iraq.
Bush bore a private grievance against Saddam, believing he had been responsible for a scheme to murder his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally objected to that one of the most prominent accommodations in Baghdad had a floor mural with a portrait of his predecessor's visage that all visitors had to tread upon.
Interrogation Methods
However it was Cheney who was among the most outspoken behind striking Iraq, repeatedly quoting information documents that were whether weak or totally misleading. He backed what the Bush White House politely called as "enhanced interrogation", the use of simulated drowning and physical pressure.
Responding to a Senate report in 2014 that found that no actionable intelligence had resulted from the interrogation methods, Cheney rejected the report as "loaded with crap". He stated to Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to take steps and establish programmes to capture the bastards who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it was not repeated. That's exactly what they did and they merit a lot of praise."
Public Image
Cheney reveled in monikers given to him by opponents such as the dark character and the sinister presence, and by the concept that he was a sinister influence directing Bush. In the journalist's 2013 volume about the two, 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 shadows that operates invisibly leave his lair? This represents a advantageous way to operate, in fact."
Commercial Ties
Debate over his business interests followed him during his tenure as second-in-command. While he had minimal expertise in business but strong connections in security, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's largest energy conglomerates, in 1995 as chairman and top executive.
In 2000 he became Bush's running mate for the White House. Debatably, during the military campaign, Halliburton was awarded US agreements totaling substantial sums.
It made him rich. His yearly earnings during his tenure at the company rose from his quarter-million dollars when he was military head to millions. When he resigned in 2000 he had a package totaling over $20m|twenty
