The late US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who passed away at age 84, was seen as one of the most influential occupants of the vice-presidency in American history. Although countless VPs were limited to marginal or ceremonial functions, Cheney wielded huge sway during the term of George W Bush, to the point that he was often referred to as the "true president".
Bush resented this portrayal and stated the connection was more complex. He noted that Cheney was deferential, always calling him in official appearances as Mr President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush disputed even characterisations of their relationship as a partnership because it suggested that they were on equal footing. Regardless of these denials, Cheney considered the relaxed president accommodating on a whole raft of policy decisions.
A Post-9/11 Era
Leading of a faction of neo-cons that encompassed defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the armed incursion 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 meeting at a elementary school in Florida. As Bush headed for a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, commanding the destruction of any unidentified airplanes approaching the US Capitol.
Cheney said the assaults transformed him, leading him to become focused on retribution. Together with other neo-conservatives, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a takeover of Afghanistan in an attempt to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the armed intervention of Iraq, even though there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein playing a role.
Disputed Actions
He expressed no regrets about the military campaign, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis perished, or about the waterboarding of detainees apprehended after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was founded on inaccurate intelligence circulated by Cheney, was the right course of action. "It represented the right thing to do at that time. I had faith back then and I maintain that stance now."
However even at the time, there were contrary opinions at a high level about the poor management of Iraq. One of the government's own delegates to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the post. "I witnessed, at the very least," he subsequently stated "obvious failure, inaction, and recklessness: at worst, lying, incompetence, and dishonesty."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not completely responsible for the Iraq military action. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for such action. He had composed a memorandum setting out scenarios in which national priorities might be endangered (including "availability of crucial commodities, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "the United States should be prepared to act independently when cooperative measures cannot be orchestrated," specifically mentioning armed actions against Iraq.
Bush additionally had arrived in the Oval Office somewhat determined on implementing what his predecessor had specifically avoided to do in 1991; topple Saddam. Subsequent to he had been fired by the president, the finance chief Paul O'Neill disclosed how, at the first meeting of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had announced his plan of lowering America's involvement in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and suggested armed intervention against Iraq.
Bush bore a personal grudge against Saddam, convinced he had been behind a plot to murder his father, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore disliked that one of the most prominent hotels in Baghdad had a ground design with a likeness of his predecessor's visage that each person had to tread upon.
Interrogation Methods
However it was Cheney who was part of the most outspoken supporting striking Iraq, consistently referencing information documents that were whether thin or completely misleading. He supported what the Bush government indirectly described as "advanced techniques", the use of simulated drowning and harsh treatment.
Answering a Senate analysis in 2014 that concluded that no valuable data had resulted from the harsh techniques, Cheney disregarded the findings as "full of crap". He stated to Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to take steps and put in place programmes to capture the perpetrators who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it was not repeated. That's exactly what they did and they deserve a lot of recognition."
External Perception
Cheney enjoyed labels imposed on him by critics such as the Star Wars villain and The Prince of Darkness, and by the idea that he was a shadow power manipulating Bush. In the author's 2013 publication about the two, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is cited as commenting: "Do I represent the sinister strategist in the background that remains unseen leave his lair? That is a advantageous way to function, actually."
Corporate Connections
Debate over his business interests accompanied him throughout his time as second-in-command. While he had limited background in business but good contacts in defence, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial energy conglomerates, in 1995 as leader and chief executive.
In 2000 he was selected as Bush's running mate for the presidency. Debatably, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was given US deals valued at multiple billions.
It made him rich. His annual income during his time at the corporation grew from his quarter-million dollars when he was Pentagon chief to over four million. When he departed in 2000 he had a severance arrangement totaling over $20m|twenty
