The deceased US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who died at age 84, was considered one of the most powerful incumbents of that position in American history. While numerous VPs had to settle for peripheral or symbolic roles, Cheney wielded substantial power during the term of George W Bush, to the point that he was commonly called as the "true president".
Bush resented this portrayal and said the relationship was more complex. He observed that Cheney was respectful, always addressing him in public settings as Mr President, while he called him as Dick. Bush challenged even portrayals of their partnership as a collaboration because it indicated that they were equals. Regardless of these objections, Cheney viewed the laidback president pliable on a broad range of policy decisions.
The Aftermath of 9/11
At the head of a faction of conservative hawks that included defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in response to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been participating in a session at a school in Florida. Whereas Bush made his way to a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, directing the shooting down of any unidentified planes approaching the Capitol building.
Cheney said the assaults altered his perspective, making him become determined on retaliation. In conjunction with other conservative figures, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a invasion of Afghanistan in an attempt to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then pressed fiercely for the military action of Iraq, although there was little proof of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Controversial Actions
He expressed no regrets about the invasion, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis died, nor about the enhanced interrogation of detainees rounded up after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was based on faulty reports circulated by Cheney, was the proper path to take. "It represented the proper decision to do back then. I was convinced back then and I hold that view today."
Yet during that period, there were dissenting voices at a top tier about the botched execution of Iraq. One of the White House's own representatives to the Middle East, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the post. "I witnessed, as a baseline," he subsequently stated "clear negligence, carelessness, and recklessness: at worst, falsehoods, ineptitude, and dishonesty."
Broader Context
Cheney was not solely to blame for the Iraq campaign. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for comparable steps. He had written a memo detailing scenarios in which US concerns might be endangered (featuring "access to vital raw materials, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "the US should be positioned to take unilateral action when collective action cannot be arranged," particularly mentioning armed actions against Iraq.
Bush also had assumed the White House generally inclined on executing what his father had famously refused to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. Following he had been fired by the White House, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill disclosed how, at the opening session 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 carried a personal grudge against Saddam, thinking he had been behind a conspiracy to assassinate his parent, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore resented that one of the most prominent establishments in Baghdad had a floor mural with a image of his predecessor's countenance that everyone had to tread upon.
Questioning Techniques
Yet it was Cheney who was one of the most vociferous supporting invading Iraq, frequently quoting information documents that were whether weak or totally deceptive. He backed what the Bush White House indirectly described as "enhanced interrogation", the employment of waterboarding and harsh treatment.
Answering a Senate analysis in 2014 that found that no actionable intelligence had resulted from the interrogation methods, Cheney dismissed the conclusions as "full of crap". He stated to Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to establish protocols and create programmes to apprehend the perpetrators who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it was not repeated. That's exactly what they did and they merit a lot of praise."
External Perception
Cheney reveled in monikers imposed on him by opponents such as the dark character and the dark figure, and by the concept that he was a shadow power directing Bush. In Peter Baker's 2013 book about the pair, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is reported as stating: "Am I the evil genius in the background that nobody ever sees emerge from his domain? That is a nice way to operate, actually."
Corporate Connections
Debate over his commercial relationships accompanied him during his tenure as VP. Although he had little experience in commerce but strong connections in military, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's biggest oil and gas companies, in 1995 as leader and top executive.
In 2000 he was selected as Bush's election partner for the White House. Contentiously, during the military campaign, Halliburton was granted US deals worth substantial sums.
It greatly increased his wealth. His yearly earnings during his time at the company rose from his $258,394 while military head to millions. When he left in 2000 he had a severance arrangement totaling in excess of $20m|twenty
