The former US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who died at age 84, was considered among the most influential holders of that position in the nation's history. Whereas numerous vice-presidents were confined to minor or figurehead roles, Cheney held enormous power during the administration of George W Bush, so much so that he was often referred to as the "actual president".
Bush objected to this portrayal and claimed the relationship was more complex. He observed that Cheney was deferential, always calling him in public settings as Mr President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush questioned even characterisations of their relationship as a team because it indicated that they were on equal footing. Regardless of these denials, Cheney found the easygoing president accommodating on a whole raft of administrative determinations.
The Period Following the Attacks
At the head of a faction of neo-conservatives that featured defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in reaction to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. At the time of the 9/11 strike, Bush had been attending a session at a educational institution in Florida. As Bush traveled to a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney took command, ordering the downing of any non-communicating aircraft approaching the government building.
Cheney claimed the attacks altered his perspective, leading him to become focused on revenge. Along with other neo-cons, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a takeover of Afghanistan in an endeavor to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the armed intervention of Iraq, though there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein playing a role.
Debated Policies
He voiced no apologies about the invasion, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis died, nor about the waterboarding of suspects captured after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was founded on misleading information repeated by Cheney, was the correct decision. "It proved to be the right thing to do at that time. I believed it back then and I believe it today."
But during that period, there were dissenting voices at a senior level about the poor management of Iraq. One of the White House's own representatives to the Middle East, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the role. "I saw, at a minimum," he subsequently stated "obvious failure, carelessness, and irresponsibility: at worst, deception, ineptitude, and corruption."
Broader Context
Cheney was not completely responsible for the Iraq invasion. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for such action. He had composed a memorandum outlining situations in which American interests might be compromised (including "access to essential resources, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "America should be postured to act independently when collective action cannot be orchestrated," particularly citing armed actions against Iraq.
Bush too had arrived in the White House somewhat determined on executing what his father had notably declined to do in 1991; remove Saddam. After he had been dismissed by the president, the finance chief Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the first meeting of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had announced his plan of lowering America's participation in the Middle East dispute and suggested armed intervention against Iraq.
Bush held a individual resentment against Saddam, thinking he had been involved in a conspiracy to assassinate his parent, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally resented that one of the most prominent establishments in Baghdad had a ground design with a likeness of his father's visage that all visitors had to tread upon.
Questioning Techniques
Yet it was Cheney who was one of the most vehement supporting invading Iraq, frequently referencing intelligence reports that were either insubstantial or entirely misleading. He endorsed what the Bush White House indirectly described as "advanced techniques", the application of simulated drowning and physical pressure.
Responding to a Senate analysis in 2014 that determined that no actionable intelligence had resulted from the interrogation methods, Cheney dismissed the findings as "loaded with crap". He informed Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to implement measures and create programmes to apprehend the bastards who took the lives of 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it never happened again. That's exactly what they did and they deserve a lot of recognition."
External Perception
Cheney took pleasure in monikers given to him by critics such as the Star Wars villain and the sinister presence, and by the idea that he was a dark force directing Bush. In the journalist's 2013 publication about the pair, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is reported as stating: "Is it me who is the evil genius in the background that operates invisibly leave his domain? That is a nice way to function, actually."
Commercial Ties
Controversy over his corporate affiliations followed him throughout his time as vice-president. Although he had limited background in commerce but established relationships in military, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's biggest petroleum companies, in 1995 as leader and chief executive.
In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's election partner for the White House. Debatably, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was awarded US agreements totaling billions.
It significantly boosted his finances. His annual income during his time at the corporation grew from his quarter-million dollars while military head to $4.4m. When he departed in 2000 he had a compensation package totaling over $20m|twenty
