The former US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who passed away at the age of 84, was seen as one of the most significant occupants of that office in the nation's history. Although numerous vice-presidents had to settle for marginal or ceremonial positions, Cheney held substantial power during the administration of George W Bush, to the point that he was often described as the "true president".
Bush disliked that description and claimed the connection was more nuanced. He observed that Cheney was respectful, consistently calling him in public settings as President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush challenged even characterisations of their association as a team because it indicated that they were peers. Despite these objections, Cheney viewed the relaxed president pliable on a whole raft of policy decisions.
The Aftermath of 9/11
At the head of a faction of neo-conservatives that encompassed defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the invasion of Iraq in 2003 in reaction to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been participating in a meeting at a educational institution in Florida. While Bush headed for a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney took command, ordering the destruction of any unresponsive aircraft heading toward the government building.
Cheney said the attacks altered his perspective, making him become intent on retaliation. Together with other neo-conservatives, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a takeover of Afghanistan in an effort to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the armed intervention of Iraq, even though there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein having involvement.
Debated Policies
He expressed no regrets about the armed intervention, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis died, or about the enhanced interrogation of detainees rounded up after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was based on inaccurate reports echoed by Cheney, was the proper course of action. "It represented the correct action to do then. I was convinced at the time and I hold that view now."
Yet even at the time, there were opposing views at a top tier about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the administration's own representatives to the Middle East, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the role. "I saw, at the very least," he later wrote "obvious failure, negligence, and unaccountability: in the worst case, falsehoods, incompetence, and graft."
Additional Factors
Cheney was not entirely responsible for the Iraq military action. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for such action. He had composed a memorandum setting out situations in which national priorities might be threatened (including "access to crucial commodities, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "the US should be postured to operate alone when cooperative measures cannot be orchestrated," specifically referencing armed actions against Iraq.
Bush additionally had arrived in the presidency vaguely intent on executing what his father had notably declined to do in 1991; topple Saddam. Subsequent to he had been dismissed by the president, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his intention of reducing America's engagement in the Middle East dispute and mooted armed intervention against Iraq.
Bush carried a private grievance against Saddam, believing he had been responsible for a scheme to murder his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore resented that one of the most prominent hotels in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a portrait of his father's visage that everyone had to step on.
Interrogation Methods
Yet it was Cheney who was one of the most vehement supporting invading Iraq, consistently referencing agency briefings that were whether weak or entirely deceptive. He supported what the Bush White House politely called as "intensive questioning", the use of simulated drowning and torture.
Answering a Senate report in 2014 that determined that no useful information had come from the torture, Cheney dismissed the conclusions as "riddled with crap". He stated to Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to take steps and put in place programmes to apprehend the bastards who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it never happened again. That was specifically what they did and they deserve a lot of recognition."
External Perception
Cheney enjoyed nicknames assigned to him by critics such as the Star Wars villain and The Prince of Darkness, and by the notion that he was a sinister influence controlling 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: "Am I the evil genius in the shadows that remains unseen leave his lair? It's a nice way to operate, truthfully."
Business Interests
Dispute over his business interests accompanied him through his period as VP. Even though he had limited background 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 petroleum companies, in 1995 as chair and top executive.
In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's election partner for the executive branch. Controversially, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was awarded US deals worth multiple billions.
It greatly increased his wealth. His annual income during his tenure at the company grew from his previous salary when he was Pentagon chief to over four million. When he departed in 2000 he had a package worth more than $20m|twenty
