The former US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who passed away at the age of 84, was considered arguably the most powerful incumbents of that office in the nation's history. Whereas many vice-presidents were limited to marginal or symbolic positions, Cheney exercised enormous influence during the term of George W Bush, so much so that he was commonly called as the "actual president".
Bush objected to this portrayal and stated the relationship was more nuanced. He observed that Cheney was respectful, consistently addressing him in official appearances as President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush challenged even descriptions of their association as a team because it suggested that they were peers. Regardless of such protestations, Cheney found the laidback president accommodating on a whole raft of administrative determinations.
The Post-9/11 Era
At the head of a contingent of conservative hawks that featured defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in response to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. At the time of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been taking part in a gathering at a school in Florida. While Bush traveled to a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, commanding the shooting down of any unidentified planes approaching the US Capitol.
Cheney claimed the strikes changed him, causing him to be focused on retribution. Together with other neo-cons, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a invasion of Afghanistan in an endeavor to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the military action of Iraq, even though there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein playing a role.
Debated Policies
He voiced no apologies about the military campaign, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, and not about the enhanced interrogation of individuals apprehended after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was founded on faulty information repeated by Cheney, was the right path to take. "It represented the correct action to do back then. I had faith then and I believe it presently."
However even at the time, there were contrary opinions at a top tier about the botched execution of Iraq. One of the administration's own special envoys to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the position. "I saw, at a minimum," he wrote later "obvious failure, carelessness, and recklessness: in the worst case, falsehoods, incompetence, and corruption."
Broader Context
Cheney was not solely to blame for the Iraq campaign. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for similar measures. He had written a memo outlining situations in which American interests might be endangered (encompassing "obtaining essential resources, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "the US should be postured to act independently when joint efforts prove impossible," specifically referencing military moves against Iraq.
Bush additionally had arrived in the White House somewhat determined on carrying out what his father had specifically avoided to do in 1991; topple Saddam. Subsequent to he had been sacked by the administration, the finance chief Paul O'Neill disclosed how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his intention of diminishing America's engagement in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and proposed armed intervention against Iraq.
Bush held a private grievance against Saddam, believing he had been responsible for a conspiracy to assassinate his parent, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore disliked that one of the largest hotels in Baghdad had a floor mural with a likeness of his father's face that everyone had to walk over.
Interrogation Methods
However it was Cheney who was among the most outspoken behind striking Iraq, frequently citing intelligence reports that were either thin or completely misleading. He endorsed what the Bush government politely called as "enhanced interrogation", the application of waterboarding and physical pressure.
Responding to a Senate document in 2014 that concluded that no actionable intelligence had been obtained through the harsh techniques, Cheney dismissed the findings as "full of crap". He informed Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to establish protocols and create initiatives to capture the perpetrators who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it would not recur. That was specifically what they did and they merit a lot of praise."
Public Persona
Cheney took pleasure in monikers imposed on him by opponents such as the Star Wars villain and the dark figure, and by the notion that he was a dark force directing Bush. In Peter Baker's 2013 book about the pair, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is cited as commenting: "Am I the malevolent mastermind in the background that operates invisibly come out of his hole? This represents a effective way to function, in fact."
Business Interests
Controversy over his business interests pursued him throughout his time as VP. Although he had minimal expertise in commerce but good contacts in military, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's biggest petroleum conglomerates, in 1995 as chairman and CEO.
In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's running mate for the presidency. Debatably, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was awarded US agreements worth billions.
It significantly boosted his finances. His yearly earnings during his period at the company increased from his quarter-million dollars during his time as Pentagon chief to over four million. When he departed in 2000 he had a compensation package worth more than $20m|twenty
