The deceased US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who passed away at the age of 84, was regarded as among the most powerful occupants of the vice-presidency in American history. Although countless vice-presidents were limited to marginal or ceremonial functions, Cheney held huge influence during the term of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was commonly referred to as the "true president".
Bush disliked that description and stated the relationship was more complicated. He pointed out that Cheney was deferential, consistently referring to him in official appearances as President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush disputed even descriptions of their relationship as a team because it implied that they were on equal footing. In spite of these objections, Cheney considered the relaxed president pliable on a whole raft of governmental choices.
The Aftermath of 9/11
At the head of a faction of neo-conservatives that featured military head Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in reaction to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. At the time of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been taking part in a session at a elementary school in Florida. Whereas Bush headed for a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, ordering the shooting down of any unidentified airplanes approaching the Capitol building.
Cheney stated the strikes transformed him, causing him to be determined on retaliation. Together with other conservative figures, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a invasion of Afghanistan in an effort to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then pressed fiercely for the military action of Iraq, although there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein having involvement.
Disputed Decisions
He voiced no apologies about the invasion, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis perished, or about the harsh treatment of individuals rounded up after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was founded on faulty intelligence repeated by Cheney, was the correct path to take. "It represented the correct action to do at that time. I had faith at the time and I hold that view presently."
But even then, there were contrary opinions at a senior level about the botched execution of Iraq. One of the White House's own delegates to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the role. "I saw, as a baseline," he wrote later "clear negligence, carelessness, and unaccountability: in the worst case, falsehoods, ineptitude, and graft."
Broader Context
Cheney was not entirely to blame for the Iraq campaign. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for such action. He had written a memo detailing situations in which American interests might be compromised (featuring "availability of crucial commodities, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "the United States should be postured to take unilateral action when cooperative measures cannot be orchestrated," particularly citing military moves against Iraq.
Bush additionally had arrived in the presidency somewhat determined on carrying out what his predecessor had notably declined to do in 1991; topple Saddam. After 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 stated his intention of diminishing America's engagement in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and proposed armed intervention against Iraq.
Bush held a personal grudge against Saddam, convinced he had been responsible for a conspiracy to murder his parent, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He also disliked that one of the biggest establishments in Baghdad had a floor mural with a likeness of his predecessor's face that each person had to step on.
Interrogation Methods
However it was Cheney who was among the most vociferous advocating attacking Iraq, frequently citing agency briefings that were either weak or completely misleading. He supported what the Bush government indirectly described as "enhanced interrogation", the application of simulated drowning and torture.
Responding to a Senate report in 2014 that determined that no useful information had resulted from the harsh techniques, Cheney dismissed the findings as "full of crap". He informed Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to establish protocols and create initiatives to capture the bastards who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it never happened again. That is precisely what they did and they deserve a lot of recognition."
Public Image
Cheney reveled in nicknames given to him by detractors such as the Star Wars villain and the dark figure, and by the notion that he was a sinister influence manipulating Bush. In the journalist's 2013 volume about the pair, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is reported as stating: "Am I the evil genius in the shadows that operates invisibly come out of his lair? It's a advantageous way to operate, truthfully."
Corporate Connections
Controversy over his corporate affiliations accompanied him during his tenure as VP. Even though he had limited background in commerce but strong connections in security, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's biggest oil and gas corporations, in 1995 as leader and chief executive.
In 2000 he was selected as Bush's election partner for the executive branch. Contentiously, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was awarded US contracts totaling multiple billions.
It significantly boosted his finances. His annual income during his tenure at the company rose from his $258,394 while Pentagon chief to over four million. When he left in 2000 he had a package totaling more than $20m|twenty
