The deceased US VP Dick Cheney, who died at age 84, was regarded as among the most significant occupants of that position in the nation's history. Whereas countless second-in-commands were limited to minor or symbolic functions, Cheney wielded huge influence during the term of George W Bush, to the point that he was often called as the "true president".
Bush resented such a characterisation and said the connection was more complex. He noted that Cheney was courteous, always referring to him in public settings as Mr President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush questioned even descriptions of their partnership as a team because it indicated that they were equals. Regardless of these objections, Cheney viewed the easygoing president malleable on a broad range of administrative determinations.
The Aftermath of 9/11
In charge of a contingent of neo-conservatives that featured military head Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the military intervention of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. At the time of the 9/11 strike, Bush had been taking part in a session at a elementary school in Florida. Whereas Bush traveled to a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney took command, ordering the downing of any unidentified aircraft approaching the government building.
Cheney said the strikes altered his perspective, causing him to be focused on retribution. Along with other neo-conservatives, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a takeover of Afghanistan in an attempt to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the armed intervention of Iraq, although there was little proof of Saddam Hussein having involvement.
Disputed Policies
He showed no remorse about the armed intervention, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis perished, nor about the waterboarding of detainees rounded up after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was based on misleading intelligence repeated by Cheney, was the correct path to take. "It proved to be the right thing to do at that time. I believed it then and I maintain that stance presently."
However during that period, there were dissenting voices at a high level about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the administration's own representatives to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the role. "I observed, at the very least," he subsequently stated "obvious failure, negligence, and unaccountability: at worst, deception, incompetence, and corruption."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not solely to blame for the Iraq campaign. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for comparable steps. He had written a memo setting out scenarios in which American interests might be threatened (featuring "availability of essential resources, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "the US should be prepared to act independently when cooperative measures cannot be orchestrated," explicitly referencing armed actions against Iraq.
Bush also had arrived in the White House vaguely intent on carrying out what his father had famously refused to do in 1991; remove Saddam. After he had been fired by the president, the finance chief Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his plan of diminishing America's involvement in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and mooted armed intervention against Iraq.
Bush bore a personal grudge against Saddam, thinking he had been involved in a scheme to assassinate his father, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore objected to that one of the biggest accommodations in Baghdad had a ground design with a image of his father's visage that everyone had to tread upon.
Questioning Techniques
Yet it was Cheney who was among the most vociferous behind invading Iraq, consistently citing agency briefings that were whether thin or totally inaccurate. He supported what the Bush White House indirectly described as "advanced techniques", the use of waterboarding and harsh treatment.
Responding to a Senate document in 2014 that found that no actionable intelligence had resulted from the torture, Cheney rejected the findings as "full of crap". He stated to Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to take steps and establish programmes to apprehend the bastards who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it never happened again. That is precisely what they did and they earn a lot of credit."
Public Image
Cheney took pleasure in labels imposed on him by critics such as the Star Wars villain and the dark figure, and by the concept that he was a dark force directing Bush. In Peter Baker's 2013 volume about the two, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is quoted as saying: "Is it me who is the malevolent mastermind in the corner that nobody ever sees emerge from his lair? That is a nice way to function, in fact."
Corporate Connections
Debate over his business interests followed him during his tenure as VP. Although he had minimal expertise in business but established relationships in defence, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's largest oil and gas corporations, in 1995 as chair and chief executive.
In 2000 he became Bush's election partner for the presidency. Debatably, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was granted US agreements valued at billions.
It made him rich. His annual income during his period at the corporation increased from his $258,394 during his time as defence secretary to $4.4m. When he left in 2000 he had a compensation package valued at more than $20m|twenty
