The former US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who passed away at the age of 84, was regarded as among the most significant holders of the vice-presidency in US history. Whereas numerous vice-presidents had to settle for peripheral or figurehead functions, Cheney wielded huge influence during the term of George W Bush, so much so that he was often referred to as the "true president".
Bush disliked that description and stated the connection was more nuanced. He noted that Cheney was respectful, consistently addressing him in public as the President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush challenged even descriptions of their association as a collaboration because it suggested that they were peers. In spite of such protestations, Cheney viewed the relaxed president malleable on a broad range of administrative determinations.
The Post-9/11 Era
In charge of a group of neo-cons that included Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. During of the 9/11 strike, Bush had been participating in a gathering at a educational institution in Florida. Whereas Bush headed for a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, ordering the destruction of any non-communicating airplanes heading toward the Capitol building.
Cheney said the assaults transformed him, making him become focused on revenge. In conjunction with other neo-conservatives, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a takeover of Afghanistan in an attempt to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the military action of Iraq, even though there was little proof of Saddam Hussein having involvement.
Debated Policies
He expressed no regrets about the armed intervention, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, nor about the waterboarding of suspects captured after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was based on faulty reports circulated by Cheney, was the proper decision. "It proved to be the right thing to do then. I believed it at the time and I believe it today."
Yet even then, there were dissenting voices at a top tier about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the government's own special envoys to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the post. "I saw, at the very least," he subsequently stated "true dereliction, inaction, and recklessness: potentially, falsehoods, incompetence, and corruption."
Broader Context
Cheney was not solely accountable for the Iraq invasion. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for such action. He had written a memorandum outlining scenarios in which US concerns might be compromised (encompassing "access to vital raw materials, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "America should be prepared to act independently when cooperative measures cannot be arranged," particularly mentioning armed actions against Iraq.
Bush also had assumed the Oval Office generally inclined on implementing what his parent had specifically avoided to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. After he had been fired by the president, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill disclosed how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had announced his objective of reducing America's engagement in the Middle East dispute and suggested military action against Iraq.
Bush bore a personal grudge against Saddam, convinced he had been responsible for a scheme to murder his parent, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He also objected to that one of the largest establishments in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a likeness of his predecessor's countenance that each person had to tread upon.
Interrogation Methods
But it was Cheney who was one of the most vociferous supporting striking Iraq, repeatedly citing information documents that were either insubstantial or entirely inaccurate. He supported what the Bush administration indirectly described as "intensive questioning", the application of interrogation method and physical pressure.
Responding to a Senate document in 2014 that concluded that no useful information had been obtained through the torture, Cheney dismissed the findings as "full of crap". He informed Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to take steps and create programmes to apprehend the bastards who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it would not recur. That was specifically what they did and they earn a lot of credit."
Public Image
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 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 quoted as saying: "Am I the sinister strategist in the background that remains unseen emerge from his lair? It's a advantageous way to work, actually."
Commercial Ties
Dispute over his commercial relationships followed him during his tenure as VP. Even though he had limited background in commerce but established relationships in military, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial petroleum companies, in 1995 as leader and CEO.
In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's election partner for the executive branch. Controversially, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was awarded US deals totaling multiple billions.
It greatly increased his wealth. His annual income during his period at the company increased from his quarter-million dollars while military head to $4.4m. When he left in 2000 he had a compensation package worth in excess of $20m|twenty
