The former US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who died at age 84, was seen as arguably the most significant occupants of that office in American history. While many VPs were limited to peripheral or figurehead positions, Cheney held enormous power during the presidency of George W Bush, so much so that he was often described as the "actual president".
Bush resented that description and claimed the connection was more complex. He pointed out that Cheney was deferential, consistently addressing him in public as Mr President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush disputed even portrayals of their partnership as a collaboration because it suggested that they were equals. Regardless of such protestations, Cheney viewed the relaxed president pliable on a wide array of policy decisions.
A Aftermath of 9/11
At the head of a contingent of neo-cons that featured Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the invasion of Iraq in 2003 in reaction to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. During of the 9/11 assault, Bush had been attending a session at a elementary school in Florida. While Bush headed for a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, ordering the shooting down of any unresponsive airplanes heading toward the Capitol building.
Cheney said the attacks changed him, leading him to become determined on revenge. Together with other neo-cons, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a takeover of Afghanistan in an effort to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the armed intervention of Iraq, although there was little proof of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Disputed Policies
He expressed no regrets about the invasion, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, or about the harsh treatment of suspects rounded up after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was based on faulty intelligence circulated by Cheney, was the right course of action. "It was the correct action to do then. I was convinced then and I believe it now."
But during that period, there were opposing views at a top tier about the botched execution of Iraq. One of the government's own delegates to the Middle East, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the role. "I observed, at the very least," he later wrote "obvious failure, carelessness, and irresponsibility: at worst, lying, ineptitude, and graft."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not entirely to blame for the Iraq invasion. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for comparable steps. He had drafted a memorandum outlining circumstances in which national priorities might be compromised (encompassing "obtaining crucial commodities, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "the United States should be postured to operate alone when collective action cannot be orchestrated," explicitly referencing military moves against Iraq.
Bush also had assumed the White House vaguely intent on executing what his predecessor had notably declined to do in 1991; topple Saddam. Subsequent to he had been dismissed by the president, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his objective of diminishing America's involvement in the regional tensions and proposed military action against Iraq.
Bush held a individual resentment against Saddam, convinced he had been responsible for a plot to kill his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He also objected to that one of the biggest accommodations in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a likeness of his father's face that all visitors had to walk over.
Questioning Techniques
But it was Cheney who was among the most vociferous supporting attacking Iraq, frequently referencing intelligence reports that were whether insubstantial or entirely inaccurate. He supported what the Bush administration politely called as "advanced techniques", the use of waterboarding and torture.
Answering a Senate document in 2014 that found that no useful information had come from the interrogation methods, 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 catch the individuals who took the lives of 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it would not recur. That was specifically what they did and they merit a lot of recognition."
Public Persona
Cheney reveled in nicknames given to him by opponents such as Darth Vader and The Prince of Darkness, and by the idea that he was a shadow power controlling Bush. In the journalist's 2013 publication about the two, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is cited as commenting: "Is it me who is the evil genius in the corner that remains unseen come out of his lair? It's a effective way to work, in fact."
Corporate Connections
Dispute over his commercial relationships followed him throughout his time as vice-president. Although he had little experience in commerce but strong connections in military, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial oil and gas conglomerates, in 1995 as chairman and top executive.
In 2000 he was selected as Bush's running mate for the executive branch. Controversially, during the military campaign, Halliburton was given US contracts worth multiple billions.
It significantly boosted his finances. His annual income during his period at the firm grew from his previous salary during his time as military head to millions. When he left in 2000 he had a severance arrangement worth more than $20m|twenty
