The former US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who died at the age of 84, was considered arguably the most influential holders of the vice-presidency in American history. While many vice-presidents had to settle for marginal or figurehead functions, Cheney wielded huge sway during the presidency of George W Bush, to the point that he was often called as the "actual president".
Bush resented such a characterisation and claimed the relationship was more complex. He pointed out that Cheney was courteous, invariably referring to him in public settings as President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush questioned even descriptions of their partnership as a partnership because it implied that they were equals. Despite such protestations, Cheney considered the laidback president malleable on a broad range of administrative determinations.
The Period Following the Attacks
Leading of a faction of neo-cons that included Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the military intervention of Iraq in 2003 in reaction to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 strike, Bush had been participating in a meeting at a educational institution in Florida. As Bush made his way to a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney took command, ordering the shooting down of any non-communicating planes approaching the government building.
Cheney claimed the assaults transformed him, leading him to become intent on retribution. Along with other neo-cons, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a invasion of Afghanistan in an endeavor to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the invasion of Iraq, even though there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein playing a role.
Controversial Actions
He voiced no apologies about the military campaign, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis died, or about the waterboarding of individuals captured after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was predicated on inaccurate intelligence repeated by Cheney, was the proper decision. "It proved to be the proper decision to do back then. I had faith at the time and I believe it today."
But during that period, there were opposing views at a high level about the botched execution of Iraq. One of the government's own representatives to the Middle East, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the post. "I witnessed, at a minimum," he later wrote "obvious failure, inaction, and recklessness: potentially, falsehoods, incompetence, and dishonesty."
Additional Factors
Cheney was not solely accountable for the Iraq military action. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for comparable steps. He had composed a memorandum detailing scenarios in which national priorities might be endangered (including "availability of crucial commodities, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "the United States should be prepared to act independently when collective action prove impossible," explicitly citing military moves against Iraq.
Bush too had entered the White House generally inclined on implementing what his predecessor had specifically avoided to do in 1991; remove Saddam. Following he had been dismissed by the president, the finance chief Paul O'Neill disclosed how, at the first meeting of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his plan of reducing America's participation in the Middle East dispute and mooted defense operations against Iraq.
Bush held a private grievance against Saddam, thinking he had been behind a conspiracy to assassinate his father, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He also objected to that one of the largest establishments in Baghdad had a floor mural with a image of his predecessor's countenance that all visitors had to step on.
Interrogation Methods
But it was Cheney who was part of the most vehement supporting invading Iraq, frequently citing information documents that were whether weak or totally misleading. He supported what the Bush administration politely called as "advanced techniques", the use of interrogation method and torture.
Answering a Senate document in 2014 that determined that no actionable intelligence had come from the harsh techniques, Cheney rejected the conclusions as "loaded with crap". He stated to Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to take steps and put in place programmes to apprehend the perpetrators who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it never happened again. That is precisely what they did and they earn a lot of praise."
External Perception
Cheney reveled in labels imposed on him by critics such as Darth Vader and the dark figure, and by the concept that he was a sinister influence directing Bush. In Peter Baker's 2013 book about the pair, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is quoted as saying: "Do I represent the malevolent mastermind in the background that remains unseen leave his lair? This represents a advantageous way to operate, actually."
Business Interests
Controversy over his corporate affiliations accompanied him through his period as second-in-command. Although he had limited background in business but good contacts in military, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's largest energy companies, in 1995 as chairman and top executive.
In 2000 he was selected as Bush's election partner for the White House. Debatably, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was granted US agreements worth multiple billions.
It made him rich. His annual income during his time at the corporation increased from his previous salary when he was defence secretary to $4.4m. When he resigned in 2000 he had a compensation package worth in excess of $20m|twenty
