The late US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who passed away at the age of 84, was considered among the most significant occupants of that position in American history. Whereas countless vice-presidents had to settle for peripheral or symbolic functions, Cheney held enormous power during the term of George W Bush, to the point that he was commonly referred to as the "true president".
Bush resented that description and claimed the connection was more complicated. He noted that Cheney was deferential, invariably addressing him in public settings as the President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush questioned even descriptions of their association as a partnership because it indicated that they were peers. Despite these objections, Cheney viewed the laidback president accommodating on a whole raft of administrative determinations.
A Post-9/11 Era
Leading of a contingent of neo-conservatives that included defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the invasion 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 attending a gathering at a educational institution in Florida. As Bush made his way to a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, directing the destruction of any non-communicating airplanes heading toward the Capitol building.
Cheney said the strikes transformed him, causing him to be focused on retribution. Along with other neo-cons, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a occupation of Afghanistan in an endeavor to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then pressed fiercely for the invasion of Iraq, even though there was little proof of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Controversial Decisions
He voiced no apologies about the military campaign, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis died, nor about the enhanced interrogation of individuals captured after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was predicated on misleading reports echoed by Cheney, was the correct course of action. "It was the correct action to do then. I believed it back then and I hold that view presently."
But even then, there were opposing views at a top tier about the botched execution of Iraq. One of the government's own special envoys to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the position. "I observed, as a baseline," he wrote later "true dereliction, inaction, and irresponsibility: at worst, lying, ineptitude, and dishonesty."
Additional Factors
Cheney was not solely to blame for the Iraq campaign. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for such action. He had drafted a document detailing situations in which national priorities might be endangered (including "access to essential resources, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "the US should be prepared to take unilateral action when cooperative measures prove impossible," particularly citing military moves against Iraq.
Bush too had assumed the presidency vaguely intent on implementing what his predecessor had specifically avoided to do in 1991; remove Saddam. Subsequent to he had been sacked by the White House, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the first meeting of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his intention of lowering America's involvement in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and suggested military action against Iraq.
Bush held a private grievance against Saddam, thinking he had been responsible for a plot to assassinate his parent, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He also disliked that one of the biggest hotels in Baghdad had a floor mural with a image of his parent's face that all visitors had to step on.
Questioning Techniques
However it was Cheney who was one of the most outspoken supporting attacking Iraq, consistently referencing intelligence reports that were either insubstantial or completely inaccurate. He backed what the Bush administration indirectly described as "intensive questioning", the use of simulated drowning and physical pressure.
Addressing a Senate document in 2014 that determined that no valuable data had come from the harsh techniques, Cheney dismissed the conclusions as "loaded with crap". He stated to Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to implement measures and put in place procedures to apprehend the individuals who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it never happened again. That is precisely what they did and they earn a lot of praise."
Public Persona
Cheney reveled in monikers given to him by detractors such as the dark character and The Prince of Darkness, and by the concept that he was a sinister influence directing Bush. In the journalist's 2013 book about the two, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is cited as commenting: "Do I represent the sinister strategist in the shadows that remains unseen emerge from his lair? This represents a advantageous way to function, in fact."
Business Interests
Controversy over his business interests accompanied him through his period as VP. Although he had minimal expertise in corporate affairs but good contacts in defence, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial oil and gas corporations, in 1995 as chair and top executive.
In 2000 he became Bush's election partner for the White House. Contentiously, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was awarded US deals worth billions.
It made him rich. His yearly earnings during his time at the firm increased from his quarter-million dollars during his time as defence secretary to millions. When he departed in 2000 he had a severance arrangement valued at over $20m|twenty
