The late US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who passed away at age 84, was seen as arguably the most significant occupants of that position in the nation's history. While many VPs were confined to marginal or ceremonial functions, Cheney exercised huge power during the term of George W Bush, to the point that he was commonly called as the "true president".
Bush disliked that description and stated the relationship was more nuanced. He pointed out that Cheney was deferential, always calling him in public settings as the President, while he called him as Dick. Bush challenged even descriptions of their association as a team because it indicated that they were equals. In spite of such protestations, Cheney considered the easygoing president pliable on a whole raft of governmental choices.
The Period Following the Attacks
In charge of a contingent of neo-cons that included defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in reaction to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. At the time of the 9/11 strike, Bush had been attending a session at a elementary school in Florida. While Bush made his way to a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, ordering the destruction of any unresponsive aircraft heading toward the government building.
Cheney said the assaults altered his perspective, making him become focused on revenge. In conjunction with other neo-cons, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a takeover of Afghanistan in an attempt to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then pressed fiercely for the invasion of Iraq, although there was little proof of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Disputed Decisions
He showed no remorse about the armed intervention, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, or about the enhanced interrogation of suspects apprehended after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was founded on faulty reports repeated by Cheney, was the right path to take. "It represented the right thing to do then. I had faith back then and I believe it now."
But during that period, there were dissenting voices at a senior level about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the White House's own delegates to the Middle East, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the role. "I saw, at the very least," he wrote later "clear negligence, inaction, and unaccountability: in the worst case, falsehoods, unfitness, and graft."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not solely accountable for the Iraq invasion. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for similar measures. He had drafted a memo detailing scenarios in which national priorities might be threatened (featuring "access to crucial commodities, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "America should be positioned to operate alone when cooperative measures cannot be arranged," particularly referencing defense operations against Iraq.
Bush also had entered the presidency vaguely intent on implementing what his parent had notably declined to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. Subsequent to 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 stated his objective of lowering America's participation in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and proposed defense operations against Iraq.
Bush carried a private grievance against Saddam, believing he had been responsible for a scheme to kill his parent, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore disliked that one of the largest hotels in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a portrait of his parent's face that each person had to step on.
Investigation Approaches
But it was Cheney who was part of the most vehement supporting invading Iraq, repeatedly referencing intelligence reports that were either weak or completely misleading. He supported what the Bush government euphemistically referred to as "advanced techniques", the application of waterboarding and physical pressure.
Answering a Senate analysis in 2014 that concluded that no actionable intelligence had been obtained through the interrogation methods, Cheney disregarded the report as "loaded with crap". He informed Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to establish protocols and put in place procedures to apprehend the perpetrators who took the lives of 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it never happened again. That is precisely what they did and they merit a lot of credit."
Public Image
Cheney took pleasure in monikers imposed on him by detractors such as the Star Wars villain and the dark figure, and by the idea that he was a shadow power directing Bush. In Peter Baker's 2013 publication about the two, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is cited as commenting: "Am I the evil genius in the shadows that remains unseen emerge from his lair? This represents a advantageous way to work, in fact."
Corporate Connections
Dispute over his corporate affiliations pursued him during his tenure as VP. Although he had minimal expertise in corporate affairs but strong connections in security, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's largest energy companies, in 1995 as chair and top executive.
In 2000 he became Bush's running mate for the White House. Contentiously, during the military campaign, Halliburton was given US contracts worth billions.
It made him rich. His yearly earnings during his period at the firm increased from his quarter-million dollars when he was defence secretary to $4.4m. When he left in 2000 he had a compensation package valued at over $20m|twenty
