The late US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who died at the age of 84, was considered arguably the most significant occupants of that position in the nation's history. Whereas countless vice-presidents had to settle for minor or figurehead functions, Cheney wielded substantial power during the term of George W Bush, so much so that he was often described as the "actual president".
Bush objected to such a characterisation and said the connection was more complex. He pointed out that Cheney was deferential, invariably calling him in public settings as President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush challenged even characterisations of their relationship as a team because it implied that they were equals. Despite these denials, Cheney considered the laidback president accommodating on a broad range of governmental choices.
The Aftermath of 9/11
In charge of a group of conservative hawks that encompassed defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the invasion of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. At the time of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been taking part in a meeting at a elementary school in Florida. Whereas Bush traveled to a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, directing the shooting down of any non-communicating airplanes approaching the government building.
Cheney claimed the assaults changed him, leading him to become intent on retaliation. Together with other neo-cons, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a takeover of Afghanistan in an attempt to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the military action of Iraq, even though there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Debated Policies
He expressed no regrets about the armed intervention, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis died, or about the enhanced interrogation of suspects apprehended after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was based on faulty reports repeated by Cheney, was the correct course of action. "It was the correct action to do back then. I believed it then and I maintain that stance today."
However even at the time, there were dissenting voices at a senior level about the botched execution of Iraq. One of the government's own special envoys to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the position. "I witnessed, as a baseline," he subsequently stated "clear negligence, carelessness, and recklessness: in the worst case, deception, unfitness, and graft."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not entirely accountable for the Iraq invasion. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for similar measures. He had composed a document setting out scenarios in which national priorities might be endangered (including "availability of vital raw materials, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "the United States should be prepared to operate alone when collective action prove impossible," particularly mentioning military moves against Iraq.
Bush too had arrived in the White House generally inclined on executing what his father had notably declined to do in 1991; topple Saddam. Following he had been sacked by the president, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the first meeting of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his plan of lowering America's engagement in the regional tensions and proposed armed intervention against Iraq.
Bush bore a personal grudge against Saddam, thinking he had been involved in a plot to assassinate his parent, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He also objected to that one of the most prominent accommodations in Baghdad had a ground design with a image of his father's countenance that each person had to walk over.
Investigation Approaches
But it was Cheney who was among the most vehement advocating invading Iraq, frequently quoting agency briefings that were whether insubstantial or totally inaccurate. He backed what the Bush administration indirectly described as "enhanced interrogation", the use of interrogation method and physical pressure.
Answering a Senate analysis in 2014 that found that no useful information had come from the harsh techniques, Cheney disregarded the findings as "full of crap". He told Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to implement measures and create programmes to capture the individuals who took the lives of 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it never happened again. That is precisely what they did and they deserve a lot of credit."
Public Image
Cheney took pleasure in monikers assigned to him by critics such as Darth Vader and the sinister presence, and by the idea that he was a shadow power directing 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: "Is it me who is the evil genius in the background that nobody ever sees come out of his lair? It's a effective way to work, truthfully."
Corporate Connections
Dispute over his commercial relationships pursued him through his period as vice-president. Even though he had little experience in business but good contacts in defence, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's largest petroleum corporations, in 1995 as chair and CEO.
In 2000 he became Bush's running mate for the presidency. Debatably, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was awarded US deals valued at multiple billions.
It greatly increased his wealth. His yearly earnings during his time at the company increased from his previous salary during his time as defence secretary to millions. When he departed in 2000 he had a package worth in excess of $20m|twenty
