The deceased US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who passed away at age 84, was seen as one of the most influential occupants of that position in the nation's history. While countless VPs were confined to minor or symbolic roles, Cheney wielded huge power during the administration of George W Bush, to the point that he was often referred to as the "actual president".
Bush disliked that description and stated the relationship was more complex. He pointed out that Cheney was courteous, invariably referring to him in public settings as the President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush challenged even portrayals of their partnership as a partnership because it implied that they were peers. Despite such protestations, Cheney found the laidback president malleable on a whole raft of administrative determinations.
A Period Following the Attacks
Leading of a faction of conservative hawks that included defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the military intervention of Iraq in 2003 in response to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 assault, Bush had been participating in a meeting at a school in Florida. Whereas Bush headed for a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, directing the downing of any unresponsive airplanes approaching the government building.
Cheney claimed the strikes changed him, leading him to become determined on retaliation. In conjunction with other conservative figures, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a takeover of Afghanistan in an attempt to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the military action of Iraq, although there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein having involvement.
Disputed Policies
He showed no remorse about the military campaign, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis perished, or about the harsh treatment of individuals apprehended after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was predicated on misleading intelligence repeated by Cheney, was the correct course of action. "It represented the proper decision to do at that time. I believed it back then and I hold that view today."
However during that period, there were dissenting voices at a high level about the poor management of Iraq. One of the White House's own special envoys to the Middle East, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the position. "I observed, at a minimum," he subsequently stated "true dereliction, carelessness, and irresponsibility: potentially, deception, incompetence, and corruption."
Broader Context
Cheney was not completely responsible for the Iraq campaign. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for such action. He had written a document outlining situations in which American interests might be threatened (featuring "availability of crucial commodities, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "America should be positioned to operate alone when collective action cannot be arranged," particularly mentioning defense operations against Iraq.
Bush also had arrived in the White House somewhat determined on implementing what his father had famously refused to do in 1991; topple Saddam. Subsequent to 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 objective of reducing America's engagement in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and proposed military action against Iraq.
Bush held a private grievance against Saddam, believing he had been behind a plot to assassinate his parent, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally resented that one of the most prominent accommodations in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a portrait of his parent's countenance that all visitors had to step on.
Interrogation Methods
But it was Cheney who was among the most outspoken supporting striking Iraq, repeatedly citing intelligence reports that were whether weak or totally misleading. He endorsed what the Bush administration politely called as "enhanced interrogation", the employment of interrogation method and harsh treatment.
Addressing a Senate document in 2014 that determined that no actionable intelligence had come from the torture, Cheney rejected the conclusions as "full of crap". He informed Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to establish protocols and establish programmes to apprehend the bastards who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it never happened again. That's exactly what they did and they merit a lot of praise."
Public Persona
Cheney took pleasure in nicknames given to him by detractors such as the dark character and the sinister presence, and by the idea that he was a dark force directing Bush. In the author's 2013 publication about the duo, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is cited as commenting: "Do I represent the evil genius in the background that operates invisibly leave his hole? That is a effective way to work, truthfully."
Corporate Connections
Controversy over his corporate affiliations accompanied him during his tenure as vice-president. Although he had minimal expertise in corporate affairs but good contacts in defence, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's largest petroleum conglomerates, in 1995 as chairman and top executive.
In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's election partner for the presidency. Contentiously, during the military campaign, Halliburton was awarded US contracts valued at billions.
It made him rich. His yearly earnings during his period at the corporation grew from his quarter-million dollars while military head to $4.4m. When he resigned in 2000 he had a package valued at over $20m|twenty
