The deceased US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who passed away at age 84, was seen as among the most influential holders of that office in the nation's history. While numerous vice-presidents had to settle for peripheral or ceremonial functions, Cheney exercised substantial sway during the administration of George W Bush, to the point that he was often described as the "actual president".
Bush objected to that description and said the connection was more complex. He noted that Cheney was respectful, always calling him in official appearances as Mr President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush disputed even characterisations of their partnership as a team because it suggested that they were on equal footing. Regardless of these denials, Cheney viewed the relaxed president accommodating on a whole raft of administrative determinations.
The Aftermath of 9/11
At the head of a group of neo-cons that included Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in reaction to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. At the time of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been attending a session at a school in Florida. As Bush made his way to a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney took command, directing the shooting down of any unidentified airplanes heading toward the US Capitol.
Cheney stated the strikes transformed him, causing him to be focused on retribution. Together with other conservative figures, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a occupation of Afghanistan in an attempt to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the military action of Iraq, although there was little proof of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Controversial Actions
He showed no remorse about the armed intervention, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, and not about the enhanced interrogation of suspects rounded up after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was predicated on misleading reports repeated by Cheney, was the proper path to take. "It was the proper decision to do at that time. I was convinced at the time and I hold that view today."
Yet even at the time, there were dissenting voices at a top tier about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the government's own representatives to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the position. "I witnessed, as a baseline," he wrote later "true dereliction, carelessness, and irresponsibility: in the worst case, lying, unfitness, and corruption."
Additional Factors
Cheney was not completely accountable for the Iraq invasion. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for comparable steps. He had drafted a memo outlining circumstances in which American interests might be compromised (including "access to vital raw materials, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "the United States should be postured to operate alone when cooperative measures cannot be orchestrated," particularly citing defense operations against Iraq.
Bush additionally had assumed the White House vaguely intent on carrying out what his father had famously refused to do in 1991; topple Saddam. Following he had been sacked by the president, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill disclosed how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his plan of reducing America's involvement in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and proposed military action against Iraq.
Bush held a private grievance against Saddam, believing he had been involved in a scheme to kill his parent, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He also objected to that one of the biggest hotels in Baghdad had a ground design with a portrait of his predecessor's countenance that everyone had to step on.
Questioning Techniques
Yet it was Cheney who was among the most vehement advocating invading Iraq, repeatedly citing information documents that were either weak or completely deceptive. He backed what the Bush White House politely called as "advanced techniques", the employment of simulated drowning and torture.
Answering a Senate analysis in 2014 that determined that no actionable intelligence had come from the interrogation methods, Cheney disregarded the conclusions as "loaded with crap". He informed Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to take steps and create procedures to capture the bastards who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it would not recur. That is precisely what they did and they merit a lot of praise."
Public Image
Cheney took pleasure in monikers imposed on him by critics such as the Star Wars villain and The Prince of Darkness, and by the idea that he was a shadow power manipulating Bush. In the author's 2013 volume about the duo, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is reported as stating: "Am I the evil genius in the background that operates invisibly leave his hole? It's a effective way to function, in fact."
Corporate Connections
Controversy over his business interests followed him through his period as second-in-command. Although he had limited background in commerce but established relationships in security, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's largest oil and gas corporations, in 1995 as chair and chief executive.
In 2000 he was selected as Bush's VP candidate for the executive branch. Debatably, during the military campaign, Halliburton was awarded US contracts worth multiple billions.
It significantly boosted his finances. His annual income during his tenure at the corporation rose from his previous salary during his time as Pentagon chief to $4.4m. When he resigned in 2000 he had a package valued at more than $20m|twenty
