The late US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who has died at the age of 84, was seen as arguably the most significant occupants of that office in the nation's history. Although numerous vice-presidents were confined to minor or symbolic positions, Cheney exercised substantial power during the administration of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was commonly called as the "actual president".
Bush objected to this portrayal and said the relationship was more complex. He pointed out that Cheney was courteous, always calling him in public as President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush challenged even descriptions of their partnership as a collaboration because it suggested that they were equals. Regardless of these objections, Cheney viewed the laidback president accommodating on a broad range of administrative determinations.
The Aftermath of 9/11
In charge of a faction of neo-cons that encompassed military head Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the invasion of Iraq in 2003 in response to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. During of the 9/11 assault, Bush had been attending a meeting at a educational institution in Florida. Whereas Bush traveled to a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney took command, ordering the downing of any unidentified aircraft approaching the government building.
Cheney stated the attacks changed him, leading him to become intent on revenge. In conjunction with other conservative figures, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a takeover of Afghanistan in an effort to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the invasion of Iraq, although there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Controversial Actions
He showed no remorse about the invasion, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis died, nor about the waterboarding of individuals rounded up after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was founded on inaccurate intelligence echoed by Cheney, was the right decision. "It proved to be the correct action to do back then. I had faith then and I hold that view presently."
Yet even at the time, there were dissenting voices at a high level about the botched execution of Iraq. One of the administration's own delegates to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the role. "I witnessed, at the very least," he wrote later "clear negligence, negligence, and irresponsibility: at worst, deception, ineptitude, and corruption."
Broader Context
Cheney was not completely to blame for the Iraq military action. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for similar measures. He had composed a memorandum outlining situations in which American interests might be threatened (encompassing "availability of vital raw materials, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "the US should be postured to act independently when joint efforts prove impossible," particularly mentioning military moves against Iraq.
Bush additionally had arrived in the presidency generally inclined on carrying out what his father had famously refused to do in 1991; topple Saddam. After he had been fired by the administration, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill disclosed how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his plan of reducing America's involvement in the regional tensions and mooted armed intervention against Iraq.
Bush bore a private grievance against Saddam, believing he had been involved in a plot to assassinate his father, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally resented that one of the most prominent establishments in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a likeness of his father's face that everyone had to step on.
Investigation Approaches
However it was Cheney who was one of the most vehement behind striking Iraq, repeatedly citing intelligence reports that were whether insubstantial or totally inaccurate. He endorsed what the Bush administration politely called as "intensive questioning", the application of interrogation method and physical pressure.
Responding to a Senate report in 2014 that found that no actionable intelligence had been obtained through the interrogation methods, Cheney rejected the report as "riddled with crap". He informed Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to implement measures and put in place procedures to apprehend the individuals who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it would not recur. That is precisely what they did and they earn a lot of praise."
External Perception
Cheney took pleasure in nicknames given to him by critics such as the Star Wars villain and the dark figure, and by the concept that he was a sinister influence manipulating Bush. In the author's 2013 volume about the pair, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is cited as commenting: "Do I represent the malevolent mastermind in the corner that operates invisibly come out of his lair? That is a effective way to function, truthfully."
Business Interests
Debate over his business interests pursued him throughout his time as second-in-command. While he had little experience in business but established relationships in defence, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's biggest energy companies, in 1995 as chairman and CEO.
In 2000 he became Bush's election partner for the executive branch. Controversially, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was given US contracts worth multiple billions.
It significantly boosted his finances. His yearly earnings during his tenure at the corporation increased from his $258,394 during his time as defence secretary to over four million. When he resigned in 2000 he had a package totaling in excess of $20m|twenty
