The former US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who died at the age of 84, was considered among the most powerful incumbents of that position in the nation's history. Although countless vice-presidents had to settle for marginal or figurehead roles, Cheney exercised enormous power during the administration of George W Bush, to the point that he was commonly called as the "actual president".
Bush objected to such a characterisation and stated the dynamic was more complicated. He pointed out that Cheney was respectful, always referring to him in official appearances as President, while he called him as Dick. Bush questioned even portrayals of their association as a team because it indicated that they were equals. Regardless of such protestations, Cheney found the laidback president malleable on a wide array of governmental choices.
The Aftermath of 9/11
At the head of a faction of neo-cons that encompassed defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the military intervention of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. At the time of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been participating in a meeting at a elementary school in Florida. While Bush headed for a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney took command, ordering the destruction of any non-communicating aircraft approaching the government building.
Cheney stated the attacks transformed him, making him become focused on revenge. In conjunction with other conservative figures, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a occupation of Afghanistan in an endeavor to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the invasion of Iraq, although there was little proof of Saddam Hussein having involvement.
Debated Actions
He showed no remorse about the invasion, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis perished, and not about the harsh treatment of suspects captured after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was predicated on inaccurate information echoed by Cheney, was the correct decision. "It was the correct action to do back then. I believed it at the time and I maintain that stance today."
Yet during that period, there were contrary opinions at a top tier about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the administration's own delegates to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the post. "I witnessed, as a baseline," he subsequently stated "obvious failure, inaction, and irresponsibility: at worst, falsehoods, incompetence, and dishonesty."
Additional Factors
Cheney was not entirely responsible for the Iraq campaign. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for similar measures. He had drafted a document setting out scenarios in which US concerns might be compromised (encompassing "access to vital raw materials, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "the US should be prepared to operate alone when collective action cannot be orchestrated," explicitly citing defense operations against Iraq.
Bush too had arrived in the White House somewhat determined on implementing what his father had specifically avoided to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. After he had been fired by the president, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill disclosed how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had announced his plan of diminishing America's involvement in the regional tensions and mooted armed intervention against Iraq.
Bush bore a personal grudge against Saddam, convinced he had been involved in a conspiracy to assassinate his father, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He also resented that one of the largest hotels in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a portrait of his parent's countenance that everyone had to walk over.
Investigation Approaches
However it was Cheney who was part of the most outspoken advocating striking Iraq, repeatedly quoting agency briefings that were either thin or totally inaccurate. He endorsed what the Bush White House politely called as "intensive questioning", the use of interrogation method and harsh treatment.
Responding to a Senate analysis in 2014 that concluded that no valuable data had come from the harsh techniques, Cheney disregarded the report as "full of crap". He stated to Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to take steps and create initiatives to apprehend the individuals who took the lives of 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it would not recur. That's exactly what they did and they earn a lot of praise."
External Perception
Cheney reveled in labels imposed on him by critics such as the dark character and The Prince of Darkness, and by the idea that he was a dark force controlling Bush. In the author's 2013 volume about the two, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is reported as stating: "Do I represent the malevolent mastermind in the background that remains unseen leave his lair? That is a effective way to work, actually."
Commercial Ties
Debate over his business interests pursued him through his period as vice-president. While he had limited background in business but established relationships in security, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's largest petroleum 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 conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was given US agreements valued at substantial sums.
It made him rich. His yearly compensation during his time at the company grew from his previous salary when he was military head to $4.4m. When he departed in 2000 he had a package valued at in excess of $20m|twenty
