The former US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who passed away at age 84, was seen as arguably the most significant occupants of the vice-presidency in US history. Although numerous vice-presidents were confined to minor or ceremonial functions, Cheney wielded enormous power during the administration of George W Bush, to the point that he was often described as the "true president".
Bush disliked that description and stated the relationship was more complicated. He observed that Cheney was courteous, always calling him in official appearances as Mr President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush questioned even descriptions of their association as a partnership because it indicated that they were on equal footing. Despite these denials, Cheney considered the easygoing president pliable on a wide array of administrative determinations.
The Period Following the Attacks
At the head of a faction of neo-conservatives that encompassed military head Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command 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 taking part in a session at a elementary school in Florida. Whereas Bush traveled to a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, ordering the shooting down of any unidentified planes approaching the Capitol building.
Cheney stated the strikes altered his perspective, making him become determined on retribution. Together with other conservative figures, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a takeover of Afghanistan in an attempt to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then pressed fiercely for the military action of Iraq, even though there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein having involvement.
Debated Decisions
He showed no remorse about the armed intervention, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis perished, nor about the harsh treatment of individuals rounded up after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was predicated on inaccurate intelligence circulated by Cheney, was the right path to take. "It was the correct action to do then. I was convinced back then and I hold that view presently."
However even then, there were contrary opinions at a high level about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the administration's own delegates to the Middle East, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the post. "I observed, at a minimum," he subsequently stated "obvious failure, carelessness, and recklessness: at worst, deception, incompetence, and dishonesty."
Additional Factors
Cheney was not completely to blame for the Iraq campaign. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for such action. He had drafted a document outlining circumstances in which national priorities might be compromised (encompassing "obtaining essential resources, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "America should be positioned to operate alone when cooperative measures cannot be arranged," explicitly citing armed actions against Iraq.
Bush also had arrived in the presidency generally inclined on carrying out what his parent had famously refused to do in 1991; topple Saddam. After he had been dismissed by the administration, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the first meeting of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his plan of lowering America's involvement in the regional tensions and proposed armed intervention against Iraq.
Bush held a personal grudge against Saddam, convinced he had been responsible for a conspiracy to assassinate his parent, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He also disliked that one of the largest accommodations in Baghdad had a floor mural with a portrait of his father's visage that each person had to step on.
Investigation Approaches
Yet it was Cheney who was part of the most vociferous supporting invading Iraq, repeatedly referencing information documents that were either weak or entirely deceptive. He endorsed what the Bush White House indirectly described as "advanced techniques", the use of interrogation method and harsh treatment.
Responding to a Senate analysis in 2014 that found that no valuable data had resulted from the interrogation methods, Cheney disregarded the report as "loaded with crap". He told Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to establish protocols and create initiatives to capture the bastards who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it was not repeated. That's exactly what they did and they earn a lot of praise."
External Perception
Cheney enjoyed nicknames imposed on him by opponents such as Darth Vader and the dark figure, and by the concept that he was a sinister influence manipulating Bush. In the author's 2013 publication about the pair, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is cited as commenting: "Do I represent the malevolent mastermind in the shadows that operates invisibly emerge from his lair? That is a advantageous way to work, in fact."
Commercial Ties
Debate over his corporate affiliations followed him during his tenure as VP. Even though he had minimal expertise in business but good contacts in military, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's largest oil and gas companies, in 1995 as leader and chief executive.
In 2000 he became Bush's election partner for the White House. Controversially, during the military campaign, Halliburton was granted US deals totaling multiple billions.
It significantly boosted his finances. His annual income during his tenure at the firm grew from his $258,394 during his time as defence secretary to millions. When he departed in 2000 he had a severance arrangement worth more than $20m|twenty
