The late US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who passed away at the age of 84, was regarded as among the most significant occupants of that office in US history. Whereas countless VPs were limited to marginal or symbolic functions, Cheney exercised substantial sway during the presidency of George W Bush, to the point that he was often described as the "true president".
Bush resented such a characterisation and claimed the relationship was more complex. He noted that Cheney was deferential, always addressing him in public settings as Mr President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush challenged even characterisations of their association as a partnership because it indicated that they were peers. Despite such protestations, Cheney found the relaxed president malleable on a whole raft of governmental choices.
The Post-9/11 Era
At the head of a group of neo-conservatives that included military head Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the military intervention of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the September 11th attacks on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 assault, Bush had been participating in a meeting at a educational institution in Florida. As Bush made his way to a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, directing the destruction of any unresponsive planes approaching the government building.
Cheney stated the assaults altered his perspective, making him become focused on retaliation. Along with other neo-cons, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a occupation of Afghanistan in an endeavor to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then pressed fiercely for the armed intervention of Iraq, although there was little proof of Saddam Hussein playing a role.
Controversial Decisions
He showed no remorse about the military campaign, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis died, or about the enhanced interrogation of suspects rounded up after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was predicated on inaccurate intelligence repeated by Cheney, was the proper path to take. "It proved to be the proper decision to do at that time. I believed it then and I maintain that stance now."
Yet even at the time, there were dissenting voices at a top tier about the botched execution 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 saw, at a minimum," he later wrote "obvious failure, negligence, and recklessness: in the worst case, lying, unfitness, and corruption."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not entirely responsible for the Iraq campaign. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for such action. He had written a memorandum detailing circumstances in which national priorities might be endangered (encompassing "access to essential resources, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "America should be prepared to act independently when cooperative measures cannot be orchestrated," specifically citing defense operations against Iraq.
Bush too had arrived in the White House somewhat determined on implementing what his parent had specifically avoided to do in 1991; topple Saddam. After he had been dismissed by the president, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his intention of lowering America's involvement in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and suggested military action against Iraq.
Bush held a private grievance against Saddam, thinking he had been involved in a scheme to murder his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He also resented that one of the largest accommodations in Baghdad had a ground design with a portrait of his parent's visage that each person had to step on.
Interrogation Methods
But it was Cheney who was among the most outspoken behind attacking Iraq, repeatedly citing information documents that were both thin or entirely misleading. He endorsed what the Bush government politely called as "enhanced interrogation", the application of simulated drowning and torture.
Answering a Senate document in 2014 that concluded that no useful information had been obtained through the harsh techniques, Cheney dismissed the conclusions as "full of crap". He told Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to take steps and create procedures to capture the bastards who took the lives of 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it was not repeated. That was specifically what they did and they earn a lot of credit."
External Perception
Cheney took pleasure in labels assigned to him by critics such as the Star Wars villain and the dark figure, and by the notion that he was a sinister influence directing Bush. In Peter Baker's 2013 publication about the duo, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is cited as commenting: "Is it me who is the evil genius in the shadows that nobody ever sees leave his domain? That is a effective way to operate, actually."
Corporate Connections
Controversy over his corporate affiliations pursued him through his period as VP. Even though he had limited background in business but established relationships in defence, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's biggest petroleum companies, in 1995 as chair and CEO.
In 2000 he became Bush's VP candidate for the presidency. Contentiously, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was given US contracts valued at billions.
It significantly boosted his finances. His yearly earnings during his period at the company rose from his $258,394 while Pentagon chief to $4.4m. When he left in 2000 he had a compensation package worth over $20m|twenty
