The former US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who passed away at age 84, was considered among the most powerful incumbents of that office in American history. Although many vice-presidents were confined to minor or figurehead roles, Cheney exercised huge sway during the presidency of George W Bush, to the point that he was often referred to as the "true president".
Bush objected to this portrayal and stated the connection was more complex. He observed that Cheney was deferential, always referring to him in official appearances as Mr President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush challenged even descriptions of their partnership as a collaboration because it implied that they were equals. In spite of these denials, Cheney found the relaxed president malleable on a wide array of policy decisions.
A Period Following the Attacks
Leading of a group of neo-conservatives that included defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the military intervention of Iraq in 2003 in response to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. At the time of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been taking part in a gathering at a school in Florida. While Bush headed for a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, commanding the shooting down of any non-communicating planes nearing the Capitol building.
Cheney claimed the attacks changed him, causing him to be determined on retribution. Together with other neo-conservatives, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a invasion of Afghanistan in an effort to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the armed intervention of Iraq, although there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Controversial Decisions
He voiced no apologies about the military campaign, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, nor about the harsh treatment of detainees rounded up after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was based on misleading information repeated by Cheney, was the correct decision. "It represented the right thing to do back then. I believed it at the time and I believe it presently."
Yet even then, there were dissenting voices at a top tier about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the administration's own special envoys to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the role. "I saw, as a baseline," he subsequently stated "obvious failure, carelessness, and recklessness: potentially, deception, ineptitude, and corruption."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not entirely responsible for the Iraq invasion. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for such action. He had drafted a memorandum setting out circumstances in which US concerns might be endangered (encompassing "availability of crucial commodities, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "the US should be positioned to operate alone when collective action cannot be arranged," explicitly citing armed actions against Iraq.
Bush too had assumed the White House vaguely intent on carrying out what his predecessor had famously refused to do in 1991; remove Saddam. After he had been sacked by the president, the finance chief Paul O'Neill disclosed how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his intention of reducing America's participation in the Middle East dispute and mooted armed intervention against Iraq.
Bush bore a personal grudge against Saddam, thinking he had been behind a plot to kill his father, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He also resented that one of the largest establishments in Baghdad had a floor mural with a image of his parent's face that all visitors had to step on.
Investigation Approaches
But it was Cheney who was one of the most vociferous supporting attacking Iraq, frequently citing intelligence reports that were both weak or totally inaccurate. He backed what the Bush administration euphemistically referred to as "advanced techniques", the employment of interrogation method and physical pressure.
Addressing a Senate report in 2014 that determined that no valuable data had been obtained through the torture, Cheney rejected the findings as "loaded with crap". He stated to Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to take steps and establish procedures to apprehend the bastards who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it never happened again. That's exactly what they did and they earn a lot of credit."
External Perception
Cheney reveled in nicknames imposed on him by opponents such as Darth Vader and The Prince of Darkness, and by the concept that he was a sinister influence directing Bush. In the author's 2013 volume about the two, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is quoted as saying: "Am I the malevolent mastermind in the corner that nobody ever sees emerge from his lair? That is a advantageous way to function, actually."
Business Interests
Dispute over his corporate affiliations accompanied him through his period as vice-president. Although he had little experience in business but strong connections in military, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's largest petroleum corporations, in 1995 as chair and top executive.
In 2000 he became Bush's VP candidate for the presidency. Debatably, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was awarded US deals valued at billions.
It made him rich. His yearly compensation during his tenure at the corporation increased from his $258,394 while Pentagon chief to $4.4m. When he resigned in 2000 he had a package worth over $20m|twenty
