The late US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who died at the age of 84, was considered arguably the most influential incumbents of the vice-presidency in the nation's history. Although countless VPs had to settle for marginal or symbolic roles, Cheney exercised huge sway during the presidency of George W Bush, to the point that he was frequently described as the "true president".
Bush disliked this portrayal and claimed the connection was more complicated. He pointed out that Cheney was deferential, consistently calling him in official appearances as Mr President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush disputed even portrayals of their partnership as a collaboration because it suggested that they were equals. Despite these objections, Cheney viewed the laidback president accommodating on a broad range of policy decisions.
A Post-9/11 Era
Leading of a contingent of conservative hawks that featured Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. At the time of the 9/11 strike, Bush had been attending a gathering at a school in Florida. As Bush headed for a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, ordering the destruction of any non-communicating aircraft heading toward the government building.
Cheney said the attacks transformed him, leading him to become intent on revenge. Along with other neo-cons, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a invasion of Afghanistan in an effort to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then pressed fiercely for the invasion of Iraq, even though there was little proof of Saddam Hussein playing a role.
Disputed Policies
He showed no remorse about the military campaign, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, or about the enhanced interrogation of suspects apprehended after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was predicated on inaccurate information circulated by Cheney, was the right course of action. "It proved to be the right thing to do then. I believed it then and I maintain that stance now."
However even at the time, there were opposing views at a high level about the botched execution of Iraq. One of the government's own special envoys to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the role. "I witnessed, at the very least," he later wrote "true dereliction, carelessness, and irresponsibility: in the worst case, lying, unfitness, and dishonesty."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not completely to blame for the Iraq invasion. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for similar measures. He had written a memo setting out scenarios in which national priorities might be endangered (encompassing "obtaining vital raw materials, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "the United States should be prepared to act independently when collective action prove impossible," explicitly referencing military moves against Iraq.
Bush too had assumed the White House vaguely intent on executing what his predecessor had specifically avoided to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. Subsequent to he had been sacked by the White House, the finance chief Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his plan of lowering America's participation in the regional tensions and mooted armed intervention against Iraq.
Bush bore a private grievance against Saddam, convinced he had been behind a conspiracy to murder his father, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore resented that one of the biggest accommodations in Baghdad had a floor mural with a likeness of his parent's countenance that all visitors had to tread upon.
Investigation Approaches
But it was Cheney who was among the most vociferous behind striking Iraq, frequently quoting agency briefings that were either weak or completely inaccurate. He backed what the Bush government euphemistically referred to as "enhanced interrogation", the use of simulated drowning and torture.
Responding to a Senate analysis in 2014 that found that no useful information had resulted from the harsh techniques, Cheney dismissed the report as "loaded with crap". He told Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to implement measures and create initiatives to apprehend the individuals who took the lives of 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it would not recur. That was specifically what they did and they deserve a lot of credit."
Public Image
Cheney took pleasure in monikers assigned to him by critics such as Darth Vader and the dark figure, and by the notion that he was a dark force manipulating Bush. In the author's 2013 volume 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 nobody ever sees leave his hole? It's a nice way to work, truthfully."
Corporate Connections
Dispute over his business interests pursued him during his tenure as vice-president. Even though he had little experience in corporate affairs but established relationships in military, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial energy corporations, in 1995 as leader and top executive.
In 2000 he became Bush's election partner for the presidency. Debatably, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was awarded US agreements totaling multiple billions.
It made him rich. His annual income during his period at the corporation rose from his quarter-million dollars while military head to millions. When he left in 2000 he had a compensation package totaling more than $20m|twenty
