The former US vice-president Dick Cheney, who passed away at age 84, was considered arguably the most powerful incumbents of that position in US history. Whereas many second-in-commands were limited to minor or symbolic positions, Cheney wielded enormous sway during the administration of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was often described as the "true president".
Bush disliked such a characterisation and stated the connection was more complex. He observed that Cheney was courteous, consistently referring to him in official appearances as the President, while he called him as Dick. Bush questioned even characterisations of their partnership as a partnership because it indicated that they were peers. Despite such protestations, Cheney found the laidback president accommodating on a broad range of governmental choices.
A Period Following the Attacks
In charge of a contingent of neo-cons that featured Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. At the time of the 9/11 assault, Bush had been participating in a session at a school in Florida. As Bush headed for a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, commanding the downing of any non-communicating airplanes nearing the US Capitol.
Cheney said the assaults changed him, leading him to become focused on retaliation. In conjunction with other neo-conservatives, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a occupation of Afghanistan in an endeavor to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then pressed fiercely for the invasion of Iraq, although there was little proof of Saddam Hussein having involvement.
Debated Policies
He voiced no apologies about the military campaign, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis perished, nor about the waterboarding of suspects captured after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was founded on misleading information echoed by Cheney, was the proper path to take. "It represented the proper decision to do back then. I was convinced back then and I maintain that stance presently."
But during that period, there were dissenting voices at a senior level about the poor management of Iraq. One of the administration's own special envoys to the Middle East, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the position. "I observed, as a baseline," he subsequently stated "obvious failure, inaction, and recklessness: potentially, deception, unfitness, and corruption."
Broader Context
Cheney was not entirely responsible for the Iraq campaign. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for comparable steps. He had composed a memorandum detailing situations in which US concerns might be compromised (including "access to essential resources, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "the US should be prepared to act independently when joint efforts cannot be orchestrated," particularly referencing defense operations against Iraq.
Bush also had entered the Oval Office vaguely intent on implementing what his father had famously refused to do in 1991; remove Saddam. After he had been dismissed by the administration, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his objective of lowering America's engagement in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and mooted armed intervention against Iraq.
Bush bore a personal grudge against Saddam, convinced he had been responsible for a plot to assassinate his father, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore disliked that one of the biggest hotels in Baghdad had a ground design with a image of his father's visage that everyone had to walk over.
Questioning Techniques
But it was Cheney who was part of the most outspoken advocating invading Iraq, consistently citing agency briefings that were both insubstantial or completely deceptive. He supported what the Bush administration politely called as "intensive questioning", the use of simulated drowning and physical pressure.
Responding to a Senate analysis in 2014 that concluded that no actionable intelligence had resulted from the interrogation methods, Cheney dismissed the conclusions as "full of crap". He told Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to establish protocols and create programmes to catch the individuals who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it would not recur. That is precisely what they did and they merit a lot of recognition."
External Perception
Cheney enjoyed nicknames assigned to him by detractors such as the dark character and the sinister presence, and by the notion that he was a shadow power directing Bush. In the journalist's 2013 volume about the two, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is quoted as saying: "Am I the malevolent mastermind in the background that remains unseen come out of his hole? That is a effective way to function, in fact."
Business Interests
Debate over his corporate affiliations accompanied him throughout his time as second-in-command. While he had minimal expertise in business but established relationships in defence, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's biggest petroleum corporations, in 1995 as chairman and chief executive.
In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's running mate for the executive branch. Debatably, during the military campaign, Halliburton was awarded US deals valued at billions.
It significantly boosted his finances. His annual income during his tenure at the company rose from his previous salary during his time as Pentagon chief to millions. When he departed in 2000 he had a package totaling more than $20m|twenty
