The former US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who died at the age of 84, was regarded as among the most powerful incumbents of the vice-presidency in American history. While countless vice-presidents were limited to marginal or figurehead roles, Cheney held substantial influence during the term of George W Bush, to the point that he was often described as the "true president".
Bush resented that description and stated the connection was more complex. He noted that Cheney was respectful, invariably addressing him in official appearances as President, while he called him as Dick. Bush disputed even descriptions of their relationship as a team because it suggested that they were on equal footing. In spite of such protestations, Cheney considered the laidback president malleable on a whole raft of administrative determinations.
The Post-9/11 Era
Leading of a group of neo-conservatives that included military head Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the military intervention 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 gathering at a educational institution in Florida. Whereas Bush traveled to a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, ordering the shooting down of any non-communicating planes heading toward the Capitol building.
Cheney said the assaults changed him, leading him to become determined on retaliation. Along with other neo-conservatives, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a takeover of Afghanistan in an attempt to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then pressed fiercely for the armed intervention of Iraq, even though there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Controversial Actions
He expressed no regrets about the invasion, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis perished, and not about the waterboarding of individuals rounded up after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was founded on faulty intelligence circulated by Cheney, was the right path to take. "It was the right thing to do at that time. I was convinced at the time and I believe it now."
Yet even at the time, there were contrary opinions at a top tier about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the administration's own delegates to the Middle East, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the position. "I saw, at the very least," he wrote later "clear negligence, inaction, and irresponsibility: in the worst case, deception, incompetence, and corruption."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not solely responsible for the Iraq invasion. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for similar measures. He had written a memo outlining circumstances in which national priorities might be threatened (including "availability of vital raw materials, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "the US should be positioned to take unilateral action when collective action prove impossible," explicitly referencing defense operations against Iraq.
Bush also had arrived in the White House generally inclined on carrying out what his father had notably declined to do in 1991; topple Saddam. Subsequent to he had been fired by the administration, the finance chief Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his intention of diminishing America's involvement in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and mooted military action against Iraq.
Bush held a personal grudge against Saddam, believing he had been behind a scheme to kill his father, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore disliked that one of the biggest accommodations in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a portrait of his predecessor's countenance that each person had to walk over.
Questioning Techniques
However it was Cheney who was part of the most vociferous behind invading Iraq, repeatedly referencing intelligence reports that were both thin or totally deceptive. He endorsed what the Bush administration politely called as "advanced techniques", the use of simulated drowning and physical pressure.
Answering a Senate analysis in 2014 that determined that no valuable data had come from the torture, Cheney disregarded the report as "riddled with crap". He stated to Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to implement measures and put in place procedures to apprehend the perpetrators who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it was not repeated. That was specifically what they did and they deserve a lot of credit."
Public Image
Cheney reveled in nicknames given to him by opponents such as the dark character and the dark figure, and by the concept that he was a sinister influence controlling 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: "Do I represent the evil genius in the corner that nobody ever sees leave his lair? That is a effective way to work, in fact."
Corporate Connections
Dispute over his commercial relationships accompanied him through his period as second-in-command. Even though he had little experience in business but good contacts in defence, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's biggest oil and gas conglomerates, in 1995 as chairman and CEO.
In 2000 he was selected as Bush's election partner for the presidency. Debatably, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was given US deals valued at billions.
It greatly increased his wealth. His annual income during his tenure at the firm grew from his $258,394 while Pentagon chief to over four million. When he left in 2000 he had a compensation package worth in excess of $20m|twenty
