The deceased US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who has died at the age of 84, was considered among the most influential occupants of that position in American history. Although countless VPs were limited to marginal or figurehead roles, Cheney held enormous sway during the term of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was frequently called as the "true president".
Bush resented that description and said the connection was more nuanced. He observed that Cheney was courteous, invariably referring to him in official appearances as the President, while he called him as Dick. Bush challenged even portrayals of their relationship as a collaboration because it indicated that they were equals. In spite of these objections, Cheney viewed the easygoing president accommodating on a broad range of governmental choices.
The Period Following the Attacks
In charge of a group of conservative hawks that included Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated 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 assault, Bush had been taking part in a meeting at a school in Florida. While Bush traveled to a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, ordering the destruction of any unidentified planes heading toward the Capitol building.
Cheney said the attacks transformed him, making him become intent on retaliation. In conjunction with other neo-conservatives, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a occupation of Afghanistan in an endeavor to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the military action of Iraq, although there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein having involvement.
Debated Policies
He voiced no apologies about the invasion, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, and not about the enhanced interrogation of individuals rounded up after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was predicated on faulty intelligence circulated by Cheney, was the right course of action. "It represented the proper decision to do then. I had faith back then and I maintain that stance presently."
Yet during that period, there were contrary opinions at a high level about the poor management of Iraq. One of the administration's own representatives to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the post. "I witnessed, at the very least," he later wrote "obvious failure, carelessness, and unaccountability: in the worst case, deception, ineptitude, and graft."
Additional Factors
Cheney was not entirely responsible for the Iraq campaign. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for comparable steps. He had composed a document setting out circumstances in which US concerns might be endangered (encompassing "access to vital raw materials, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "the US should be positioned to take unilateral action when joint efforts prove impossible," explicitly referencing military moves against Iraq.
Bush additionally had assumed the presidency vaguely intent on implementing what his father had famously refused to do in 1991; topple Saddam. Following he had been fired by the president, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his objective of lowering America's participation in the regional tensions and mooted armed intervention against Iraq.
Bush carried a private grievance against Saddam, believing he had been involved in a plot to assassinate his parent, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore resented that one of the biggest establishments in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a likeness of his father's countenance that everyone had to step on.
Interrogation Methods
But it was Cheney who was part of the most vociferous behind attacking Iraq, frequently referencing information documents that were either insubstantial or completely deceptive. He supported what the Bush government politely called as "intensive questioning", the application of waterboarding and harsh treatment.
Responding to a Senate document in 2014 that determined that no useful information had come from the interrogation methods, Cheney dismissed the findings as "full of crap". He informed Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to take steps and put in place procedures to catch the perpetrators who took the lives of 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it never happened again. That is precisely what they did and they deserve a lot of praise."
Public Persona
Cheney took pleasure in nicknames imposed on him by opponents such as Darth Vader and the dark figure, and by the idea that he was a shadow power manipulating Bush. In Peter Baker's 2013 book about the two, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is reported as stating: "Is it me who is the sinister strategist in the background that operates invisibly leave his domain? This represents a nice way to function, actually."
Commercial Ties
Controversy over his corporate affiliations followed him through his period as VP. Although he had minimal expertise in business but strong connections in defence, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial oil and gas corporations, in 1995 as leader and top executive.
In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's election partner for the executive branch. Controversially, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was granted US contracts valued at multiple billions.
It significantly boosted his finances. His annual income during his time at the firm grew from his $258,394 during his time as defence secretary to millions. When he resigned in 2000 he had a compensation package worth in excess of $20m|twenty
