The late US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who passed away at age 84, was regarded as one of the most influential occupants of that position in American history. While many vice-presidents were limited to marginal or symbolic functions, Cheney wielded substantial sway during the presidency of George W Bush, to the point that he was commonly called as the "real president".
Bush disliked this portrayal and stated the connection was more complicated. He observed that Cheney was courteous, invariably referring to him in official appearances as the President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush challenged even descriptions of their relationship as a partnership because it indicated that they were on equal footing. In spite of these denials, Cheney viewed the relaxed president pliable on a broad range of policy decisions.
The Aftermath of 9/11
Leading of a group of neo-cons that encompassed 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. When of the 9/11 assault, Bush had been participating in a meeting at a elementary school in Florida. Whereas Bush traveled to a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, directing the shooting down of any unidentified airplanes heading toward the government building.
Cheney claimed the strikes transformed him, making him become focused on revenge. In conjunction with other neo-conservatives, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a takeover of Afghanistan in an attempt to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the armed intervention of Iraq, though there was little proof of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Controversial Decisions
He showed no remorse about the armed intervention, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis died, and not about the enhanced interrogation of individuals apprehended after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was based on faulty intelligence echoed by Cheney, was the right course of action. "It represented the correct action to do then. I believed it then and I believe it presently."
However even at the time, there were dissenting voices at a high level about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the government's own representatives to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the role. "I saw, as a baseline," he later wrote "obvious failure, carelessness, and unaccountability: in the worst case, falsehoods, ineptitude, and graft."
Broader Context
Cheney was not solely responsible for the Iraq military action. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for such action. He had written a memorandum detailing situations in which national priorities might be compromised (encompassing "availability of essential resources, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "the US should be postured to operate alone when joint efforts cannot be orchestrated," particularly referencing military moves against Iraq.
Bush too had assumed the presidency somewhat determined on implementing what his father had famously refused to do in 1991; topple Saddam. Subsequent to he had been fired by the administration, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the first meeting of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his plan of diminishing America's participation in the regional tensions and mooted defense operations against Iraq.
Bush bore a private grievance against Saddam, thinking he had been behind a scheme to murder his parent, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He also disliked that one of the largest hotels in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a portrait of his predecessor's visage that all visitors had to step on.
Questioning Techniques
However it was Cheney who was one of the most vehement advocating invading Iraq, consistently quoting intelligence reports that were whether insubstantial or totally deceptive. He supported what the Bush White House politely called as "intensive questioning", the use of simulated drowning and harsh treatment.
Answering a Senate analysis in 2014 that concluded that no valuable data had been obtained through the torture, Cheney rejected the conclusions as "loaded with crap". He told Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to establish protocols and put in place programmes to catch the individuals who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it never happened again. That's exactly what they did and they deserve a lot of credit."
External Perception
Cheney enjoyed nicknames given to him by opponents such as the dark character and the dark figure, and by the idea that he was a sinister influence directing Bush. In the author's 2013 volume about the two, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is cited as commenting: "Is it me who is the sinister strategist in the shadows that operates invisibly emerge from his hole? That is a advantageous way to work, in fact."
Corporate Connections
Dispute over his commercial relationships pursued him throughout his time as vice-president. While he had limited background in commerce but good contacts in defence, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's largest energy corporations, in 1995 as chairman and CEO.
In 2000 he was selected as Bush's election partner for the presidency. Controversially, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was awarded US contracts worth substantial sums.
It made him rich. His yearly compensation during his period at the company increased from his quarter-million dollars during his time as Pentagon chief to $4.4m. When he resigned in 2000 he had a compensation package worth over $20m|twenty
