The late US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who died at age 84, was seen as one of the most significant occupants of the vice-presidency in the nation's history. Although many vice-presidents were confined to marginal or figurehead functions, Cheney held huge power during the presidency of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was often described as the "true president".
Bush objected to such a characterisation and claimed the relationship was more complex. He pointed out that Cheney was deferential, consistently referring to him in official appearances as President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush challenged even descriptions of their association as a team because it implied that they were peers. In spite of such protestations, Cheney viewed the laidback president malleable on a whole raft of governmental choices.
The Post-9/11 Era
At the head of a contingent of neo-conservatives that included military head Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the invasion of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. At the time of the 9/11 assault, Bush had been participating in a gathering at a educational institution in Florida. As Bush headed for a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, directing the destruction of any unresponsive aircraft heading toward the US Capitol.
Cheney stated the attacks altered his perspective, causing him to be intent on revenge. In conjunction with other conservative figures, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a occupation of Afghanistan in an attempt to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the invasion of Iraq, although there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Controversial Actions
He voiced no apologies about the armed intervention, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, or about the waterboarding of individuals apprehended after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was founded on faulty reports circulated by Cheney, was the proper decision. "It represented the right thing to do then. I had faith at the time and I maintain that stance today."
Yet even then, there were opposing views at a top tier about the botched execution of Iraq. One of the White House's own special envoys to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the post. "I witnessed, at the very least," he later wrote "clear negligence, carelessness, and unaccountability: potentially, deception, incompetence, and graft."
Broader Context
Cheney was not solely accountable for the Iraq campaign. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for comparable steps. He had drafted a memorandum outlining circumstances in which US concerns might be threatened (featuring "availability of vital raw materials, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "America should be postured to take unilateral action when joint efforts prove impossible," particularly referencing defense operations against Iraq.
Bush also had entered the White House vaguely intent on executing what his predecessor had notably declined to do in 1991; topple Saddam. After he had been dismissed by the White House, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his objective of diminishing America's engagement in the regional tensions and suggested defense operations against Iraq.
Bush carried a private grievance against Saddam, thinking he had been responsible for a conspiracy to assassinate his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He also objected to that one of the largest accommodations in Baghdad had a floor mural with a likeness of his parent's face that everyone had to step on.
Investigation Approaches
Yet it was Cheney who was among the most vociferous behind attacking Iraq, consistently citing agency briefings that were whether weak or entirely misleading. He backed what the Bush administration euphemistically referred to as "advanced techniques", the employment of interrogation method and physical pressure.
Addressing a Senate analysis in 2014 that found that no useful information had been obtained through the interrogation methods, Cheney dismissed the report as "riddled with crap". He told Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to take steps and establish procedures to apprehend the individuals who took the lives of 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it would not recur. That's exactly what they did and they merit a lot of recognition."
Public Image
Cheney reveled in nicknames assigned to him by detractors such as the Star Wars villain and the dark figure, 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 quoted as saying: "Do I represent the malevolent mastermind in the background that nobody ever sees come out of his lair? This represents a nice way to work, in fact."
Business Interests
Debate over his business interests followed him during his tenure as VP. Even though he had little experience in commerce but established relationships in security, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial oil and gas conglomerates, in 1995 as leader and top executive.
In 2000 he was selected as Bush's election partner for the executive branch. Contentiously, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was given US contracts valued at billions.
It significantly boosted his finances. His yearly compensation during his period at the corporation increased from his quarter-million dollars during his time as defence secretary to millions. When he departed in 2000 he had a compensation package worth more than $20m|twenty
