The former US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who passed away at age 84, was considered one of the most influential incumbents of that office in American history. Whereas many vice-presidents were limited to peripheral or figurehead functions, Cheney held huge power during the presidency of George W Bush, to the point that he was frequently described as the "actual president".
Bush resented such a characterisation and claimed the connection was more complicated. He pointed out that Cheney was deferential, invariably addressing him in official appearances as the President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush challenged even characterisations of their relationship as a team because it suggested that they were peers. Regardless of these denials, Cheney considered the easygoing president accommodating on a wide array of policy decisions.
A Aftermath of 9/11
At the head of a group of neo-conservatives that encompassed defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the invasion of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 strike, Bush had been participating in a gathering at a educational institution in Florida. As Bush traveled to a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, directing the shooting down of any non-communicating aircraft nearing the US Capitol.
Cheney said the assaults changed him, causing him to be focused on revenge. Together with other neo-conservatives, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a occupation of Afghanistan in an attempt to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the invasion of Iraq, although there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein playing a role.
Debated Actions
He expressed no regrets about the invasion, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis perished, and not about the waterboarding of suspects rounded up after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was based on faulty information echoed by Cheney, was the correct path to take. "It proved to be the right thing to do then. I was convinced then and I hold that view presently."
But during that period, there were opposing views at a senior level about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the government's own special envoys to the Middle East, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the position. "I saw, at a minimum," he later wrote "clear negligence, inaction, and recklessness: at worst, falsehoods, ineptitude, and graft."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not solely accountable for the Iraq invasion. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for similar measures. He had written a memorandum outlining scenarios in which national priorities might be compromised (featuring "access to crucial commodities, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "the US should be postured to act independently when joint efforts cannot be orchestrated," explicitly referencing armed actions against Iraq.
Bush also had arrived in the presidency somewhat determined on carrying out what his predecessor had notably declined to do in 1991; topple Saddam. After he had been sacked by the administration, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill disclosed how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his plan of lowering America's engagement in the regional tensions and mooted military action against Iraq.
Bush bore a private grievance against Saddam, thinking he had been involved in a conspiracy to kill his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore resented that one of the largest establishments in Baghdad had a ground design with a likeness of his father's visage that each person had to walk over.
Interrogation Methods
But it was Cheney who was among the most vehement advocating attacking Iraq, frequently referencing agency briefings that were whether thin or entirely deceptive. He backed what the Bush White House euphemistically referred to as "enhanced interrogation", the application of interrogation method and torture.
Answering a Senate document in 2014 that determined that no actionable intelligence had come from the interrogation methods, Cheney rejected the findings as "riddled with crap". He stated to Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to establish protocols and put in place procedures to capture the perpetrators who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it never happened again. That was specifically what they did and they merit a lot of recognition."
Public Persona
Cheney enjoyed labels imposed on him by critics such as Darth Vader and the sinister presence, and by the idea that he was a dark force controlling Bush. In the author's 2013 publication about the two, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is reported as stating: "Am I the evil genius in the background that remains unseen emerge from his lair? That is a effective way to function, truthfully."
Corporate Connections
Dispute over his commercial relationships followed him throughout his time as VP. While he had limited background in corporate affairs but established relationships in military, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's largest petroleum corporations, in 1995 as leader and CEO.
In 2000 he was selected as Bush's running mate for the White House. Controversially, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was awarded US deals totaling substantial sums.
It made him rich. His annual income during his time at the corporation grew from his quarter-million dollars while defence secretary to $4.4m. When he departed in 2000 he had a compensation package valued at in excess of $20m|twenty
