The former US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who died at the age of 84, was considered one of the most influential incumbents of the vice-presidency in the nation's history. Whereas many vice-presidents were confined to peripheral or figurehead functions, Cheney wielded enormous sway during the presidency of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was often referred to as the "true president".
Bush disliked this portrayal and stated the relationship was more complicated. He observed that Cheney was courteous, invariably addressing him in official appearances as President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush disputed even portrayals of their partnership as a collaboration because it indicated that they were peers. Despite these denials, Cheney viewed the relaxed president accommodating on a broad range of policy decisions.
A Period Following the Attacks
In charge of a faction of conservative hawks that encompassed military head Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the invasion 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 gathering at a educational institution in Florida. As Bush headed for a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, commanding the destruction of any unidentified planes approaching the Capitol building.
Cheney stated the assaults changed him, making him become determined on retribution. In conjunction with other conservative figures, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a occupation of Afghanistan in an attempt to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the invasion of Iraq, although there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein playing a role.
Controversial Actions
He voiced no apologies about the armed intervention, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis perished, and not about the harsh treatment of individuals rounded up after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was founded on faulty information repeated by Cheney, was the correct course of action. "It proved to be the correct action to do back then. I had faith back then and I believe it now."
But during that period, there were dissenting voices at a senior level about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the government's own special envoys to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the role. "I saw, as a baseline," he subsequently stated "clear negligence, negligence, and irresponsibility: in the worst case, deception, unfitness, and dishonesty."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not entirely to blame for the Iraq military action. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for such action. He had drafted a memo outlining circumstances in which American interests might be compromised (including "availability of essential resources, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "the United States should be postured to operate alone when cooperative measures prove impossible," specifically mentioning military moves against Iraq.
Bush additionally had assumed the presidency vaguely intent on executing what his father had famously refused to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. After he had been fired by the president, the finance chief Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the first meeting of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his intention of reducing America's participation in the Middle East dispute and proposed military action against Iraq.
Bush carried a private grievance against Saddam, believing he had been involved in a plot to murder his father, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He also resented that one of the most prominent accommodations in Baghdad had a floor mural with a image of his parent's face that all visitors had to walk over.
Questioning Techniques
However it was Cheney who was one of the most vociferous supporting striking Iraq, consistently citing information documents that were whether insubstantial or completely inaccurate. He supported what the Bush White House indirectly described as "advanced techniques", the use of interrogation method and torture.
Responding to a Senate analysis in 2014 that concluded that no valuable data had been obtained through the torture, Cheney disregarded the report as "riddled with crap". He told Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to implement measures and establish procedures to apprehend the perpetrators who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it would not recur. That was specifically what they did and they merit a lot of praise."
Public Image
Cheney took pleasure in monikers given to him by opponents such as the Star Wars villain and The Prince of Darkness, and by the idea that he was a shadow power directing Bush. In the journalist's 2013 publication about the two, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is quoted as saying: "Is it me who is the malevolent mastermind in the background that operates invisibly leave his lair? It's a effective way to operate, actually."
Business Interests
Controversy over his business interests pursued him through his period as vice-president. While he had little experience in commerce but established relationships in security, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's largest oil and gas corporations, in 1995 as chair and top executive.
In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's election partner for the presidency. Debatably, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was given US agreements worth multiple billions.
It made him rich. His yearly compensation during his time at the corporation grew from his $258,394 during his time as Pentagon chief to millions. When he resigned in 2000 he had a compensation package totaling in excess of $20m|twenty
