The former US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who died at age 84, was considered arguably the most powerful holders of that office in US history. Although countless VPs were confined to peripheral or figurehead functions, Cheney exercised substantial power during the term of George W Bush, to the point that he was commonly described as the "true president".
Bush disliked this portrayal and claimed the relationship was more nuanced. He observed that Cheney was deferential, always addressing him in official appearances as President, while he called him as Dick. Bush questioned even portrayals of their partnership as a partnership because it implied that they were peers. In spite of these objections, Cheney found the laidback president accommodating on a whole raft of administrative determinations.
The Aftermath of 9/11
Leading of a faction of neo-cons that encompassed Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted 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 strike, Bush had been taking part in a session at a educational institution in Florida. As Bush headed for a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney took command, directing the destruction of any unidentified aircraft heading toward the US Capitol.
Cheney said the attacks changed him, causing him to be determined on retribution. In conjunction with other neo-conservatives, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a invasion of Afghanistan in an endeavor to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the invasion of Iraq, even though there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein having involvement.
Debated Policies
He showed no remorse about the military campaign, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis perished, and not about the harsh treatment of suspects rounded up after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was predicated on misleading reports circulated by Cheney, was the right path to take. "It was the right thing to do then. I believed it then and I believe it presently."
However during that period, there were contrary opinions at a senior level about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the administration's own special envoys to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the post. "I saw, at the very least," he wrote later "true dereliction, carelessness, and recklessness: at worst, deception, incompetence, and corruption."
Additional Factors
Cheney was not solely accountable for the Iraq invasion. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for similar measures. He had drafted a memorandum setting out scenarios in which American interests might be endangered (featuring "availability of essential resources, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "the US should be positioned to act independently when cooperative measures cannot be orchestrated," particularly mentioning military moves against Iraq.
Bush too had arrived in the White House generally inclined on carrying out what his predecessor had famously refused to do in 1991; remove Saddam. After he had been dismissed by the administration, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his intention of lowering America's involvement in the Middle East dispute and proposed defense operations against Iraq.
Bush bore a individual resentment against Saddam, convinced he had been behind a scheme to kill his parent, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He also objected to that one of the most prominent hotels in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a image of his father's face that everyone had to walk over.
Questioning Techniques
However it was Cheney who was part of the most vehement supporting striking Iraq, frequently citing intelligence reports that were either insubstantial or totally misleading. He backed what the Bush government politely called as "intensive questioning", the employment of interrogation method and torture.
Responding to a Senate document in 2014 that found that no valuable data had resulted from the harsh techniques, Cheney disregarded the conclusions as "riddled with crap". He informed Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to implement measures and put in place procedures to apprehend the perpetrators who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it never happened again. That is precisely what they did and they merit a lot of credit."
Public Persona
Cheney reveled in labels assigned to him by detractors such as the Star Wars villain and The Prince of Darkness, and by the notion that he was a sinister influence directing Bush. In the author's 2013 book about the two, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is reported as stating: "Is it me who is the sinister strategist in the background that operates invisibly leave his hole? This represents a nice way to work, in fact."
Business Interests
Debate over his commercial relationships followed him throughout his time as vice-president. Although he had little experience in corporate affairs but strong connections in security, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial energy corporations, in 1995 as chairman and top executive.
In 2000 he was selected as Bush's running mate for the White House. Debatably, during the military campaign, Halliburton was granted US deals valued at substantial sums.
It significantly boosted his finances. His annual income during his time at the company rose from his quarter-million dollars when he was Pentagon chief to $4.4m. When he left in 2000 he had a compensation package worth in excess of $20m|twenty
