The former US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who passed away at the age of 84, was regarded as among the most significant holders of that office in American history. While many VPs had to settle for marginal or figurehead functions, Cheney wielded enormous sway during the administration of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was commonly referred to as the "true president".
Bush resented this portrayal and said the connection was more complex. He noted that Cheney was deferential, always referring to him in public as President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush challenged even characterisations of their association as a team because it suggested that they were peers. Regardless of these objections, Cheney considered the easygoing president malleable on a whole raft of governmental choices.
A Post-9/11 Era
At the head of a group of neo-conservatives that encompassed defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in reaction to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. During of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been participating in a meeting at a educational institution in Florida. As Bush traveled to a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, ordering the shooting down of any non-communicating aircraft heading toward the Capitol building.
Cheney said the strikes changed him, causing him to be determined on retaliation. Together with other neo-conservatives, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a invasion of Afghanistan in an endeavor to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the invasion of Iraq, though there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein playing a role.
Debated Decisions
He showed no remorse about the military campaign, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, and not about the harsh treatment of suspects captured after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was predicated on inaccurate reports circulated by Cheney, was the proper decision. "It represented the right thing to do at that time. I believed it back then and I hold that view today."
However even then, there were contrary opinions at a senior level about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the administration's own special envoys to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the post. "I observed, as a baseline," he later wrote "clear negligence, negligence, and unaccountability: at worst, lying, unfitness, and graft."
Additional Factors
Cheney was not entirely accountable for the Iraq campaign. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for such action. He had composed a memo outlining circumstances in which national priorities might be endangered (including "access to crucial commodities, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "the US should be positioned to act independently when collective action cannot be arranged," particularly mentioning military moves against Iraq.
Bush additionally had arrived in the White House vaguely intent on carrying out what his father had famously refused to do in 1991; remove Saddam. Subsequent to he had been sacked by the administration, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his intention of reducing America's involvement in the regional tensions and proposed defense operations against Iraq.
Bush carried a private grievance against Saddam, convinced he had been involved in a plot to assassinate his parent, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He also disliked that one of the biggest accommodations in Baghdad had a ground design with a portrait of his parent's visage that everyone had to step on.
Questioning Techniques
But it was Cheney who was part of the most outspoken advocating attacking Iraq, consistently referencing intelligence reports that were either insubstantial or entirely deceptive. He supported what the Bush White House politely called as "intensive questioning", the employment of waterboarding and harsh treatment.
Addressing a Senate document in 2014 that determined that no useful information had come from the torture, Cheney disregarded the report as "loaded with crap". He stated to Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to establish protocols and establish initiatives to catch the perpetrators who took the lives of 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it never happened again. That was specifically what they did and they earn a lot of praise."
External Perception
Cheney enjoyed nicknames imposed on him by detractors such as the Star Wars villain and the dark figure, and by the idea that he was a sinister influence manipulating Bush. In the author's 2013 book about the two, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is cited as commenting: "Am I the evil genius in the background that nobody ever sees leave his hole? That is a nice way to function, truthfully."
Business Interests
Dispute over his corporate affiliations followed him through his period as VP. While he had limited background in business but strong connections in defence, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's largest energy corporations, in 1995 as chairman and CEO.
In 2000 he was selected as Bush's running mate for the White House. Contentiously, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was awarded US agreements totaling billions.
It significantly boosted his finances. His annual income during his period at the company rose from his previous salary while defence secretary to millions. When he departed in 2000 he had a severance arrangement totaling more than $20m|twenty
