The late US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who passed away at the age of 84, was considered one of the most powerful holders of that office in US history. While many VPs were confined to peripheral or figurehead roles, Cheney exercised huge sway during the administration of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was frequently called as the "actual president".
Bush disliked this portrayal and said the relationship was more complicated. He pointed out that Cheney was deferential, always referring to him in official appearances as Mr President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush questioned even characterisations of their association as a partnership because it implied that they were equals. Despite these objections, Cheney considered the laidback president malleable on a broad range of governmental choices.
The Post-9/11 Era
At the head of a faction of neo-conservatives that included Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in reaction to the September 11th attacks on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 assault, Bush had been taking part in a gathering at a school in Florida. As Bush made his way to a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, ordering the downing of any non-communicating airplanes approaching the government building.
Cheney said the strikes changed him, causing him to be determined on retribution. Together with other conservative figures, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a invasion of Afghanistan in an effort to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the military action of Iraq, even though there was little proof of Saddam Hussein playing a role.
Disputed Actions
He expressed no regrets about the invasion, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis perished, and not about the harsh treatment of suspects rounded up after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was founded on inaccurate reports circulated by Cheney, was the proper course of action. "It proved to be the right thing to do then. I believed it then and I believe it presently."
However even then, there were contrary opinions at a top tier about the botched execution of Iraq. One of the administration's own representatives to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the post. "I saw, at the very least," he subsequently stated "true dereliction, inaction, and recklessness: in the worst case, deception, ineptitude, and graft."
Additional Factors
Cheney was not entirely responsible for the Iraq invasion. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for comparable steps. He had composed a memorandum detailing circumstances in which US concerns might be threatened (including "access to crucial commodities, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "America should be positioned to act independently when joint efforts cannot be orchestrated," explicitly mentioning defense operations against Iraq.
Bush too had arrived in the presidency vaguely intent on implementing what his father had notably declined to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. After he had been sacked by the administration, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had announced his intention of lowering America's involvement in the regional tensions and proposed defense operations against Iraq.
Bush bore a individual resentment against Saddam, convinced he had been behind a conspiracy to kill his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore resented that one of the biggest hotels in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a portrait of his father's face that each person had to step on.
Investigation Approaches
But it was Cheney who was part of the most vociferous supporting invading Iraq, repeatedly citing agency briefings that were whether weak or entirely misleading. He backed what the Bush White House euphemistically referred to as "intensive questioning", the employment of waterboarding and physical pressure.
Answering a Senate report in 2014 that determined that no actionable intelligence had resulted from the torture, Cheney rejected the conclusions as "loaded with crap". He stated to Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to establish protocols and establish programmes to catch the individuals who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it would not recur. That's exactly what they did and they earn a lot of recognition."
Public Persona
Cheney reveled in nicknames assigned to him by opponents such as the Star Wars villain and the sinister presence, and by the notion that he was a shadow power manipulating Bush. In Peter Baker's 2013 publication about the pair, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is reported as stating: "Do I represent the evil genius in the background that remains unseen come out of his domain? It's a advantageous way to work, truthfully."
Business Interests
Dispute over his corporate affiliations followed him throughout his time as VP. Even though he had minimal expertise in corporate affairs but established relationships in military, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's largest petroleum conglomerates, in 1995 as leader and CEO.
In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's running mate for the White House. Controversially, during the military campaign, Halliburton was given US agreements worth substantial sums.
It made him rich. His annual income during his time at the company grew from his $258,394 while defence secretary to over four million. When he left in 2000 he had a compensation package worth in excess of $20m|twenty
