The former US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who died at the age of 84, was considered one of the most powerful incumbents of that office in US history. Whereas numerous vice-presidents were confined to minor or ceremonial positions, Cheney exercised enormous power during the administration of George W Bush, so much so that he was often described as the "actual president".
Bush disliked this portrayal and claimed the connection was more nuanced. He noted that Cheney was deferential, invariably referring to him in official appearances as President, while he called him as Dick. Bush questioned even descriptions of their partnership as a collaboration because it indicated that they were on equal footing. Regardless of these objections, Cheney considered the laidback president pliable on a broad range of governmental choices.
The Aftermath of 9/11
In charge of a group of neo-cons that encompassed defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the military intervention of Iraq in 2003 in reaction to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 assault, Bush had been taking part in a gathering at a elementary school in Florida. Whereas Bush traveled to a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, commanding the shooting down of any unresponsive planes approaching the government building.
Cheney said the attacks altered his perspective, making him become intent on revenge. Together with other conservative figures, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a occupation of Afghanistan in an effort to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the military action of Iraq, even though there was little proof of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Debated Actions
He showed no remorse about the military campaign, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis died, and not about the enhanced interrogation of detainees captured after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was predicated on misleading intelligence echoed by Cheney, was the correct path to take. "It represented the right thing to do at that time. I was convinced back then and I believe it today."
Yet even at the time, there were opposing views at a high level about the botched execution of Iraq. One of the government's own delegates to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the position. "I witnessed, at the very least," he wrote later "true dereliction, negligence, and irresponsibility: at worst, lying, unfitness, and dishonesty."
Additional Factors
Cheney was not entirely accountable for the Iraq military action. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for such action. He had drafted a memorandum detailing circumstances in which national priorities might be threatened (encompassing "availability of crucial commodities, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "the US should be prepared to act independently when cooperative measures prove impossible," specifically mentioning military moves against Iraq.
Bush also had entered the White House generally inclined on executing what his father had notably declined to do in 1991; topple Saddam. Subsequent to he had been dismissed by the administration, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had announced his plan of diminishing America's involvement in the regional tensions and mooted military action against Iraq.
Bush carried a personal grudge against Saddam, believing he had been behind a conspiracy to assassinate his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally disliked that one of the most prominent hotels in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a likeness of his predecessor's countenance that all visitors had to walk over.
Interrogation Methods
However it was Cheney who was part of the most vociferous supporting striking Iraq, frequently citing information documents that were whether insubstantial or entirely deceptive. He backed what the Bush administration euphemistically referred to as "intensive questioning", the application of interrogation method and harsh treatment.
Responding to a Senate analysis in 2014 that determined that no useful information had been obtained through the harsh techniques, Cheney rejected the conclusions as "riddled with crap". He told Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to implement measures and put in place procedures to catch the bastards who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it never happened again. That was specifically what they did and they earn a lot of praise."
Public Persona
Cheney reveled in nicknames imposed on him by critics such as the Star Wars villain and The Prince of Darkness, and by the notion that he was a shadow power directing Bush. In the author's 2013 book about the two, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is quoted as saying: "Am I the sinister strategist in the shadows that remains unseen emerge from his lair? That is a effective way to work, actually."
Commercial Ties
Dispute over his corporate affiliations accompanied him during his tenure as vice-president. Even though he had minimal expertise in commerce but good contacts in defence, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial oil and gas corporations, in 1995 as chairman and top executive.
In 2000 he was selected as Bush's running mate for the White House. Contentiously, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was granted US contracts totaling billions.
It made him rich. His annual income during his tenure at the company grew from his $258,394 when he was defence secretary to millions. When he departed in 2000 he had a compensation package worth more than $20m|twenty
