The deceased US VP Dick Cheney, who died at the age of 84, was considered one of the most significant holders of that position in American history. Although numerous second-in-commands were confined to peripheral or ceremonial positions, Cheney wielded huge power during the presidency of George W Bush, so much so that he was often described as the "actual president".
Bush objected to that description and said the dynamic was more nuanced. He pointed out that Cheney was respectful, consistently addressing him in public settings as President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush disputed even descriptions of their association as a team because it implied that they were on equal footing. Despite these denials, Cheney found the relaxed president accommodating on a wide array of policy decisions.
A Post-9/11 Era
At the head of a contingent of neo-conservatives that included defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the military intervention of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 assault, Bush had been participating in a gathering at a school in Florida. Whereas Bush headed for a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney took command, ordering the downing of any unidentified aircraft nearing the US Capitol.
Cheney stated the assaults transformed him, making him become intent on revenge. Together with other neo-conservatives, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a takeover of Afghanistan in an endeavor to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then pressed fiercely for the armed intervention of Iraq, although there was little proof of Saddam Hussein having involvement.
Controversial Decisions
He voiced no apologies about the armed intervention, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis perished, and not about the waterboarding of detainees captured after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, 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 was convinced back then and I hold that view presently."
However even at the time, there were contrary opinions at a high level about the poor management of Iraq. One of the White House's own special envoys to the Middle East, 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, incompetence, and dishonesty."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not entirely responsible for the Iraq military action. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for comparable steps. He had composed a memo setting out situations in which American interests might be endangered (encompassing "availability of crucial commodities, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "the United States should be positioned to act independently when cooperative measures cannot be orchestrated," explicitly referencing defense operations against Iraq.
Bush additionally had assumed the Oval Office vaguely intent on executing what his predecessor had specifically avoided to do in 1991; topple Saddam. Subsequent to he had been dismissed by the White House, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had announced his objective of lowering America's engagement in the regional tensions and mooted military action against Iraq.
Bush bore a personal grudge against Saddam, thinking he had been responsible for a scheme to murder his parent, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore resented that one of the largest hotels in Baghdad had a ground design with a portrait of his predecessor's face that everyone had to tread upon.
Questioning Techniques
But it was Cheney who was part of the most outspoken advocating striking Iraq, frequently quoting agency briefings that were both thin or totally inaccurate. He endorsed what the Bush government politely called as "intensive questioning", the application of interrogation method and harsh treatment.
Responding to a Senate report in 2014 that found that no valuable data had been obtained through the torture, Cheney disregarded the report as "full of crap". He informed Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to take steps and establish initiatives to apprehend the perpetrators who took the lives of 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it never happened again. That's exactly what they did and they earn a lot of recognition."
External Perception
Cheney enjoyed monikers imposed on him by critics such as Darth Vader and the dark figure, and by the notion that he was a dark force controlling Bush. In the author's 2013 book about the duo, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is reported as stating: "Am I the sinister strategist in the corner that remains unseen emerge from his hole? That is a nice way to function, in fact."
Commercial Ties
Controversy over his corporate affiliations accompanied him through his period as second-in-command. Although he had limited background in corporate affairs but established relationships in security, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's largest oil and gas corporations, in 1995 as chair and top executive.
In 2000 he became Bush's running mate for the presidency. Debatably, during the military campaign, Halliburton was given US contracts worth billions.
It significantly boosted his finances. His annual income during his tenure at the firm rose from his quarter-million dollars while defence secretary to over four million. When he resigned in 2000 he had a severance arrangement valued at in excess of $20m|twenty
