The deceased US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who died at age 84, was seen as one of the most significant occupants of that position in the nation's history. While numerous vice-presidents were confined to minor or symbolic roles, Cheney exercised enormous power during the presidency of George W Bush, so much so that he was frequently described as the "true president".
Bush resented that description and claimed the relationship was more complex. He noted that Cheney was deferential, always referring to him in public settings as Mr President, while he called him as Dick. Bush challenged even descriptions of their partnership as a collaboration because it implied that they were on equal footing. Regardless of these denials, Cheney viewed the laidback president malleable on a wide array of governmental choices.
The Period Following the Attacks
At the head of a faction of neo-cons that encompassed military head Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been participating in a meeting at a school in Florida. Whereas Bush headed for a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney took command, commanding the downing of any non-communicating planes nearing the Capitol building.
Cheney said the attacks transformed him, making him become determined on retribution. In conjunction with other neo-conservatives, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a invasion of Afghanistan in an effort to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then pressed fiercely for the military action of Iraq, although there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein playing a role.
Controversial Policies
He voiced no apologies about the invasion, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis perished, and not about the harsh treatment of suspects apprehended after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was predicated on misleading information circulated by Cheney, was the correct course of action. "It represented the proper decision to do then. I believed it back then and I believe it today."
Yet even then, there were dissenting voices at a high level about the poor management of Iraq. One of the administration's own representatives to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the post. "I saw, at the very least," he subsequently stated "true dereliction, inaction, and recklessness: at worst, falsehoods, unfitness, and graft."
Additional Factors
Cheney was not solely accountable for the Iraq invasion. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for comparable steps. He had drafted a memo detailing circumstances in which American interests might be threatened (featuring "obtaining essential resources, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "America should be prepared to operate alone when cooperative measures cannot be arranged," particularly citing military moves against Iraq.
Bush too had entered the White House somewhat determined on implementing what his parent had notably declined to do in 1991; remove Saddam. After he had been fired by the administration, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the first meeting of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had announced his objective of diminishing America's involvement in the regional tensions and proposed military action against Iraq.
Bush carried a personal grudge against Saddam, convinced he had been behind a scheme to assassinate his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore disliked that one of the largest accommodations in Baghdad had a floor mural with a likeness of his father's visage that all visitors had to tread upon.
Investigation Approaches
However it was Cheney who was part of the most vehement advocating striking Iraq, consistently quoting agency briefings that were whether weak or completely deceptive. He backed what the Bush White House euphemistically referred to as "intensive questioning", the employment of interrogation method and harsh treatment.
Answering a Senate document in 2014 that concluded that no useful information had resulted from the harsh techniques, Cheney rejected the findings as "loaded with crap". He told Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to establish protocols and create initiatives to apprehend the individuals who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it was not repeated. That was specifically what they did and they earn a lot of praise."
Public Persona
Cheney took pleasure in nicknames given to him by detractors such as the Star Wars villain and The Prince of Darkness, and by the concept that he was a sinister influence controlling Bush. In the author's 2013 book about the duo, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is cited as commenting: "Do I represent the evil genius in the shadows that remains unseen come out of his lair? This represents a advantageous way to work, truthfully."
Corporate Connections
Dispute over his corporate affiliations accompanied him during his tenure as vice-president. Although he had minimal expertise in business but good contacts in defence, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's largest oil and gas conglomerates, in 1995 as leader and CEO.
In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's election partner for the White House. Controversially, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was given US agreements valued at multiple billions.
It significantly boosted his finances. His yearly earnings during his period at the firm grew from his $258,394 while Pentagon chief to $4.4m. When he resigned in 2000 he had a compensation package totaling over $20m|twenty
