The deceased US VP Dick Cheney, who died at age 84, was regarded as one of the most significant incumbents of that office in US history. Although countless second-in-commands were confined to marginal or symbolic positions, Cheney exercised enormous power during the administration of George W Bush, to the point that he was commonly called as the "actual president".
Bush disliked this portrayal and said the connection was more nuanced. He noted that Cheney was deferential, invariably referring to him in public settings as President, while he called him as Dick. Bush challenged even characterisations of their partnership as a partnership because it indicated that they were peers. In spite of these denials, Cheney viewed the easygoing president malleable on a whole raft of governmental choices.
A Post-9/11 Era
Leading of a faction of conservative hawks that encompassed military head Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the military intervention 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 session at a school in Florida. Whereas Bush traveled to a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, commanding the shooting down of any non-communicating planes approaching the Capitol building.
Cheney said the attacks changed him, making him become focused on retaliation. In conjunction with other neo-cons, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a invasion of Afghanistan in an attempt to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the invasion of Iraq, though there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein having involvement.
Disputed Policies
He voiced no apologies about the military campaign, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis perished, or about the waterboarding of suspects apprehended after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was founded on inaccurate reports echoed by Cheney, was the right course of action. "It represented the right thing to do at that time. I had faith then and I hold that view now."
However during that period, there were opposing views at a high level about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the administration's own special envoys to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the position. "I witnessed, at a minimum," he later wrote "clear negligence, carelessness, and irresponsibility: in the worst case, lying, ineptitude, and graft."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not entirely accountable for the Iraq invasion. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for such action. He had composed a document detailing circumstances in which national priorities might be compromised (encompassing "access to crucial commodities, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "the United States should be prepared to act independently when cooperative measures prove impossible," particularly citing defense operations against Iraq.
Bush too had arrived in the Oval Office somewhat determined on implementing what his parent had notably declined to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. After he had been sacked by the president, the finance chief Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had announced his intention of diminishing America's involvement in the regional tensions and suggested defense operations against Iraq.
Bush held a private grievance against Saddam, convinced he had been behind a plot to assassinate his parent, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore disliked that one of the largest hotels in Baghdad had a ground design with a image of his predecessor's face that everyone had to walk over.
Questioning Techniques
But it was Cheney who was among the most vehement advocating striking Iraq, repeatedly quoting intelligence reports that were whether insubstantial or entirely deceptive. He supported what the Bush White House indirectly described as "enhanced interrogation", the use of simulated drowning and torture.
Answering a Senate document in 2014 that determined that no useful information had been obtained through the harsh techniques, Cheney rejected the conclusions as "riddled with crap". He stated to Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to establish protocols and put in place procedures to apprehend the bastards who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it would not recur. That was specifically what they did and they earn a lot of credit."
Public Image
Cheney took pleasure in nicknames assigned to him by opponents such as Darth Vader and The Prince of Darkness, and by the notion that he was a shadow power controlling Bush. In the author's 2013 book about the two, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is quoted as saying: "Is it me who is the evil genius in the background that remains unseen come out of his lair? It's a advantageous way to operate, truthfully."
Commercial Ties
Debate over his corporate affiliations accompanied him throughout his time as second-in-command. Even though he had minimal expertise in commerce but established relationships in military, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's biggest petroleum companies, in 1995 as chairman and top executive.
In 2000 he was selected as Bush's election partner for the White House. Controversially, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was awarded US deals valued at substantial sums.
It made him rich. His yearly earnings during his period at the company increased from his quarter-million dollars during his time as Pentagon chief to millions. When he departed in 2000 he had a severance arrangement valued at more than $20m|twenty
