The deceased US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who died at age 84, was regarded as among the most significant incumbents of that position in US history. While countless VPs were limited to minor or figurehead roles, Cheney held enormous influence during the administration of George W Bush, so much so that he was often called as the "true president".
Bush objected to that description and claimed the dynamic was more nuanced. He noted that Cheney was respectful, consistently referring to him in public as Mr President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush questioned even descriptions of their partnership as a team because it indicated that they were equals. Regardless of these objections, Cheney found the easygoing president pliable on a wide array of administrative determinations.
The Period Following the Attacks
At the head of a faction of neo-conservatives that encompassed defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the invasion of Iraq in 2003 in response to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. During of the 9/11 strike, Bush had been attending a session at a elementary school in Florida. While Bush traveled to a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, ordering the destruction of any non-communicating aircraft heading toward the government building.
Cheney said the assaults transformed him, causing him to be intent on revenge. In conjunction with other conservative figures, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a invasion of Afghanistan in an attempt to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the military action of Iraq, although there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Debated Decisions
He showed no remorse about the armed intervention, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, nor about the enhanced interrogation of detainees apprehended after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was founded on faulty information echoed by Cheney, was the right path to take. "It represented the correct action to do back then. I was convinced at the time and I hold that view presently."
But during that period, there were dissenting voices at a high level about the botched execution of Iraq. One of the government's own representatives to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the role. "I witnessed, at the very least," he wrote later "true dereliction, carelessness, and recklessness: potentially, lying, incompetence, and corruption."
Additional Factors
Cheney was not solely accountable for the Iraq campaign. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for such action. He had drafted a memorandum setting out situations in which US concerns might be threatened (including "access to vital raw materials, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "the United States should be postured to act independently when joint efforts cannot be arranged," specifically mentioning defense operations against Iraq.
Bush also had entered the White House somewhat determined on executing what his father had famously refused to do in 1991; topple Saddam. After he had been sacked by the president, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill disclosed how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had announced his intention of diminishing America's participation in the Middle East dispute and proposed military action against Iraq.
Bush carried a private grievance against Saddam, convinced he had been behind a plot to kill his predecessor, 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 floor mural with a portrait of his predecessor's countenance that everyone had to walk over.
Questioning Techniques
But it was Cheney who was among the most vehement advocating attacking Iraq, frequently referencing agency briefings that were either insubstantial or completely deceptive. He supported what the Bush government indirectly described as "advanced techniques", the employment of waterboarding and harsh treatment.
Responding to a Senate report in 2014 that found that no valuable data had come from the interrogation methods, Cheney rejected the report as "riddled with crap". He informed Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to establish protocols and put in place initiatives to apprehend the bastards who took the lives of 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it was not repeated. That's exactly what they did and they earn a lot of credit."
Public Image
Cheney enjoyed monikers given to him by critics such as Darth Vader and the dark figure, and by the notion that he was a sinister influence manipulating Bush. In the journalist'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 malevolent mastermind in the corner that nobody ever sees leave his lair? This represents a advantageous way to function, in fact."
Corporate Connections
Debate over his corporate affiliations accompanied him through his period as vice-president. Even though he had little experience in commerce but strong connections in security, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's largest energy corporations, in 1995 as chairman and CEO.
In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's VP candidate for the executive branch. Debatably, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was given US deals valued at billions.
It made him rich. His yearly earnings during his period at the corporation grew from his $258,394 while military head to $4.4m. When he resigned in 2000 he had a compensation package totaling over $20m|twenty
