The former US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who passed away at age 84, was regarded as arguably the most significant holders of the vice-presidency in American history. Whereas countless vice-presidents had to settle for marginal or symbolic positions, Cheney wielded enormous influence during the administration of George W Bush, so much so that he was often described as the "actual president".
Bush disliked that description and said the connection was more complex. He observed that Cheney was respectful, always referring to him in public as Mr President, while he called him as Dick. Bush questioned even descriptions of their relationship as a collaboration because it indicated that they were on equal footing. Despite these denials, Cheney found the relaxed president pliable on a broad range of governmental choices.
A Period Following the Attacks
At the head of a contingent of neo-cons that included military head Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the military intervention of Iraq in 2003 in reaction to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 strike, Bush had been taking part in a gathering at a educational institution in Florida. As Bush traveled to a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney took command, directing the destruction of any non-communicating planes heading toward the government building.
Cheney stated the attacks transformed him, making him become intent on revenge. Together with other neo-cons, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a takeover of Afghanistan in an attempt to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the military action of Iraq, though there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein having involvement.
Controversial Policies
He showed no remorse about the military campaign, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis perished, nor about the enhanced interrogation of detainees rounded up after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was founded on inaccurate information repeated by Cheney, was the proper course of action. "It represented the correct action to do then. I was convinced back then and I hold that view today."
But even at the time, there were dissenting voices at a high level about the poor management of Iraq. One of the White House's own special envoys to the Middle East, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the post. "I witnessed, at the very least," he subsequently stated "clear negligence, negligence, and irresponsibility: potentially, deception, unfitness, and dishonesty."
Broader Context
Cheney was not entirely responsible for the Iraq invasion. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for such action. He had composed a memo detailing scenarios in which US concerns might be compromised (featuring "access to essential resources, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "the United States should be prepared to take unilateral action when joint efforts prove impossible," explicitly mentioning armed actions against Iraq.
Bush too had entered the Oval Office generally inclined on executing what his predecessor had famously refused to do in 1991; remove Saddam. Subsequent to he had been fired by the administration, the finance chief Paul O'Neill disclosed how, at the first meeting of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his objective of diminishing America's engagement in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and suggested armed intervention against Iraq.
Bush held a private grievance against Saddam, convinced he had been responsible for a conspiracy to assassinate his father, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally disliked that one of the largest accommodations in Baghdad had a ground design with a image of his father's visage that each person had to step on.
Questioning Techniques
But it was Cheney who was one of the most outspoken advocating striking Iraq, repeatedly referencing information documents that were either thin or entirely deceptive. He endorsed what the Bush government politely called as "advanced techniques", the application of simulated drowning and harsh treatment.
Responding to a Senate document in 2014 that determined that no useful information had been obtained through the torture, Cheney rejected the report as "full of crap". He informed Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to take steps and put in place programmes to apprehend the perpetrators who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it never happened again. That's exactly what they did and they deserve a lot of praise."
External Perception
Cheney reveled in nicknames assigned to him by critics such as the dark character and the dark figure, and by the notion that he was a dark force manipulating Bush. In the journalist's 2013 publication about the pair, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is cited as commenting: "Do I represent the evil genius in the background that operates invisibly leave his domain? This represents a nice way to operate, truthfully."
Commercial Ties
Dispute over his commercial relationships followed him through his period as VP. Although he had little experience in corporate affairs but strong connections in defence, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's biggest petroleum conglomerates, in 1995 as chair and CEO.
In 2000 he was selected as Bush's VP candidate for the presidency. Controversially, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was awarded US agreements worth multiple billions.
It significantly boosted his finances. His annual income during his period at the corporation rose from his $258,394 while military head to $4.4m. When he left in 2000 he had a package totaling in excess of $20m|twenty
