The late US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who passed away at age 84, was regarded as among the most powerful holders of the vice-presidency in the nation's history. Although numerous VPs were confined to marginal or figurehead functions, Cheney exercised huge power during the administration of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was commonly referred to as the "true president".
Bush disliked such a characterisation and claimed the dynamic was more nuanced. He noted that Cheney was respectful, invariably addressing him in public settings as President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush disputed even characterisations of their relationship as a collaboration because it implied that they were peers. In spite of these denials, Cheney viewed the relaxed president pliable on a broad range of governmental choices.
The Aftermath of 9/11
At the head of a faction of conservative hawks that encompassed Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the military intervention of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 strike, Bush had been attending a meeting at a school in Florida. While Bush traveled to a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, ordering the downing of any unresponsive planes approaching the government building.
Cheney claimed the attacks changed him, leading him to become determined on retaliation. Together with other neo-cons, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a takeover of Afghanistan in an effort to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the military action of Iraq, though there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein having involvement.
Debated Policies
He voiced no apologies about the military campaign, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis died, or about the harsh treatment of suspects apprehended after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was founded on inaccurate intelligence repeated by Cheney, was the correct decision. "It represented the right thing to do then. I had faith back then and I believe it today."
Yet even at the time, there were contrary opinions at a senior level about the poor management 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 observed, as a baseline," he subsequently stated "clear negligence, negligence, and irresponsibility: potentially, falsehoods, ineptitude, and graft."
Broader Context
Cheney was not completely accountable for the Iraq campaign. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for such action. He had composed a memorandum outlining scenarios in which national priorities might be endangered (including "access to vital raw materials, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "the US should be positioned to take unilateral action when cooperative measures cannot be arranged," explicitly citing armed actions against Iraq.
Bush additionally had assumed the Oval Office vaguely intent on carrying out what his parent had famously refused to do in 1991; remove Saddam. Subsequent to he had been sacked by the White House, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill disclosed how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had announced his intention of diminishing America's engagement in the regional tensions and suggested military action against Iraq.
Bush carried a personal grudge against Saddam, convinced he had been responsible for a plot to murder his parent, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally objected to that one of the largest establishments in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a image of his parent's visage that everyone had to walk over.
Interrogation Methods
However it was Cheney who was one of the most vehement supporting striking Iraq, repeatedly citing agency briefings that were either thin or entirely misleading. He backed what the Bush government politely called as "enhanced interrogation", the application of simulated drowning and physical pressure.
Answering a Senate document in 2014 that determined that no useful information had come from the interrogation methods, Cheney disregarded the findings as "riddled with crap". He stated to Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to implement measures and establish procedures to catch the individuals who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it was not repeated. That was specifically what they did and they merit a lot of recognition."
Public Persona
Cheney enjoyed monikers given to him by opponents such as Darth Vader and The Prince of Darkness, and by the notion that he was a dark force manipulating Bush. In the journalist's 2013 publication about the duo, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is quoted as saying: "Am I the malevolent mastermind in the corner that operates invisibly come out of his domain? That is a nice way to function, in fact."
Business Interests
Dispute over his business interests pursued him during his tenure as vice-president. Although he had minimal expertise in corporate affairs but established relationships in military, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's biggest oil and gas conglomerates, in 1995 as chair and top executive.
In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's election partner for the White House. Contentiously, during the military campaign, Halliburton was given US deals totaling substantial sums.
It greatly increased his wealth. His annual income during his tenure at the corporation increased from his quarter-million dollars during his time as defence secretary to over four million. When he left in 2000 he had a package valued at over $20m|twenty
