The former US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who died at age 84, was considered among the most influential incumbents of the vice-presidency in the nation's history. While numerous vice-presidents had to settle for marginal or ceremonial positions, Cheney held huge sway during the presidency of George W Bush, so much so that he was frequently described as the "true president".
Bush objected to such a characterisation and claimed the connection was more complex. He pointed out that Cheney was deferential, consistently addressing him in public settings as the President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush disputed even descriptions of their partnership as a team because it indicated that they were equals. In spite of these denials, Cheney found the relaxed president malleable on a whole raft of administrative determinations.
A Post-9/11 Era
In charge of a group of conservative hawks that included Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence 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. During of the 9/11 strike, Bush had been taking part in a meeting at a elementary school in Florida. While Bush traveled to a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, directing the destruction of any unresponsive planes nearing the government building.
Cheney claimed the attacks transformed him, making him become focused on retaliation. In conjunction with other neo-cons, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a occupation of Afghanistan in an effort to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the armed intervention of Iraq, although there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Controversial Decisions
He expressed no regrets about the armed intervention, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis perished, and not about the waterboarding of individuals rounded up after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was predicated on faulty reports circulated by Cheney, was the proper path to take. "It was the proper decision to do at that time. I had faith then and I hold that view now."
However even then, there were dissenting voices at a top tier about the botched execution of Iraq. One of the administration's own representatives to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the position. "I observed, at the very least," he later wrote "clear negligence, negligence, and irresponsibility: potentially, lying, unfitness, and graft."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not completely to blame for the Iraq military action. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for such action. He had written a memorandum detailing scenarios in which national priorities might be compromised (encompassing "access to crucial commodities, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "the US should be positioned to act independently when joint efforts prove impossible," particularly citing defense operations against Iraq.
Bush additionally had entered the Oval Office generally inclined on implementing what his parent had famously refused to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. Subsequent to he had been dismissed by the administration, the finance chief Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the first meeting of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had announced his plan of reducing America's engagement in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and suggested defense operations against Iraq.
Bush bore a personal grudge against Saddam, convinced he had been responsible for a plot to assassinate his father, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally disliked that one of the largest hotels in Baghdad had a floor mural with a portrait of his parent's countenance that everyone had to walk over.
Questioning Techniques
Yet it was Cheney who was among the most outspoken behind striking Iraq, frequently quoting agency briefings that were both weak or entirely deceptive. He endorsed what the Bush administration indirectly described as "enhanced interrogation", the use of simulated drowning and physical pressure.
Addressing a Senate analysis in 2014 that concluded that no actionable intelligence had come from the interrogation methods, Cheney rejected the findings as "loaded with crap". He stated to Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to establish protocols and establish programmes to apprehend the perpetrators who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it never happened again. That's exactly what they did and they deserve a lot of praise."
External Perception
Cheney reveled in labels assigned to him by critics such as the dark character and the sinister presence, and by the concept that he was a sinister influence controlling Bush. In the journalist's 2013 publication about the duo, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is reported as stating: "Do I represent the sinister strategist in the corner that nobody ever sees come out of his domain? It's a nice way to function, actually."
Business Interests
Controversy over his commercial relationships accompanied him during his tenure as VP. While he had minimal expertise in commerce but established relationships in military, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's largest oil and gas conglomerates, in 1995 as leader and top executive.
In 2000 he was selected as Bush's VP candidate for the presidency. Controversially, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was given US deals valued at substantial sums.
It significantly boosted his finances. His yearly earnings during his period at the firm grew from his $258,394 while defence secretary to $4.4m. When he left in 2000 he had a package totaling over $20m|twenty
