The late US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who passed away at age 84, was considered arguably the most significant incumbents of that office in the nation's history. Whereas numerous vice-presidents were confined to peripheral or figurehead positions, Cheney wielded substantial sway during the presidency of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was commonly referred to as the "actual president".
Bush resented such a characterisation and claimed the connection was more complex. He observed that Cheney was respectful, consistently calling him in public as Mr President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush questioned even characterisations of their association as a team because it implied that they were on equal footing. Despite such protestations, Cheney viewed the relaxed president accommodating on a wide array of policy decisions.
A Post-9/11 Era
Leading of a faction of neo-conservatives that featured military head Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the military intervention 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. While Bush made his way to a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney took command, ordering the shooting down of any unresponsive airplanes approaching the government building.
Cheney stated the attacks transformed him, making him become focused on retaliation. Together with other neo-cons, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a occupation of Afghanistan in an attempt to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the armed intervention of Iraq, though there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein playing a role.
Debated Actions
He expressed no regrets about the invasion, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis perished, or about the waterboarding of suspects captured after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was based on inaccurate intelligence circulated by Cheney, was the proper course of action. "It proved to be the right thing to do at that time. I was convinced then and I maintain that stance presently."
But even at the time, there were dissenting voices at a top tier about the poor management of Iraq. One of the administration's own special envoys to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the role. "I witnessed, as a baseline," he subsequently stated "obvious failure, negligence, and irresponsibility: at worst, lying, unfitness, and graft."
Broader Context
Cheney was not solely responsible for the Iraq military action. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for such action. He had written a memo detailing situations in which national priorities might be compromised (encompassing "obtaining vital raw materials, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "the US should be postured to take unilateral action when cooperative measures prove impossible," particularly citing armed actions against Iraq.
Bush also had arrived in the presidency vaguely intent on carrying out what his parent had specifically avoided to do in 1991; remove Saddam. After he had been fired by the president, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had announced his plan of reducing America's participation in the Middle East dispute and proposed defense operations against Iraq.
Bush bore a personal grudge against Saddam, convinced he had been behind a plot to murder his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore objected to that one of the most prominent hotels in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a image of his father's visage that each person had to walk over.
Questioning Techniques
But it was Cheney who was one of the most outspoken behind invading Iraq, consistently quoting agency briefings that were both insubstantial or completely deceptive. He backed what the Bush White House politely called as "intensive questioning", the application of interrogation method and harsh treatment.
Responding to a Senate document in 2014 that concluded that no actionable intelligence had resulted from the interrogation methods, Cheney dismissed the conclusions as "loaded with crap". He stated to Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to take steps and establish initiatives to catch the perpetrators who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it never happened again. That's exactly what they did and they merit a lot of credit."
Public Image
Cheney took pleasure in monikers given to him by critics such as Darth Vader and The Prince of Darkness, and by the idea that he was a sinister influence manipulating Bush. In Peter Baker's 2013 publication 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 background that nobody ever sees emerge from his lair? It's a effective way to work, in fact."
Corporate Connections
Dispute over his business interests followed him throughout his time as second-in-command. Although he had little experience in commerce but strong connections in military, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's biggest petroleum corporations, in 1995 as leader and CEO.
In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's VP candidate for the White House. Contentiously, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was given US agreements worth multiple billions.
It significantly boosted his finances. His annual income during his period at the company rose from his $258,394 when he was defence secretary to over four million. When he departed in 2000 he had a compensation package valued at in excess of $20m|twenty
