The former US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who died at age 84, was regarded as among the most influential occupants of the vice-presidency in the nation's history. Whereas many VPs were limited to marginal or symbolic roles, Cheney wielded enormous sway during the term of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was commonly called as the "actual president".
Bush resented such a characterisation and stated the dynamic was more nuanced. He noted that Cheney was deferential, always calling him in public settings as President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush disputed even characterisations of their partnership as a team because it suggested that they were on equal footing. In spite of these denials, Cheney considered the laidback president pliable on a wide array of governmental choices.
A Period Following the Attacks
Leading of a faction of neo-conservatives that encompassed defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in reaction to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 assault, Bush had been participating in a session at a elementary school in Florida. Whereas Bush headed for a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, directing the shooting down of any unresponsive planes heading toward the Capitol building.
Cheney claimed the strikes altered his perspective, causing him to be determined on retribution. In conjunction with other neo-cons, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a invasion of Afghanistan in an endeavor to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the invasion of Iraq, even though there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein playing a role.
Debated Actions
He showed no remorse about the armed intervention, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis died, or about the waterboarding of suspects captured after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was based on inaccurate information repeated by Cheney, was the correct decision. "It was the correct action to do back then. I had faith back then and I maintain that stance today."
However even then, there were dissenting voices at a top tier about the poor management of Iraq. One of the White House's own representatives to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the post. "I observed, at a minimum," he later wrote "obvious failure, negligence, and recklessness: in the worst case, deception, incompetence, and graft."
Broader Context
Cheney was not completely responsible for the Iraq invasion. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for comparable steps. He had written a memorandum detailing situations in which US concerns might be compromised (featuring "availability of crucial commodities, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "the US should be positioned to operate alone when collective action cannot be arranged," specifically mentioning military moves against Iraq.
Bush also had arrived in the White House generally inclined on carrying out what his parent had notably declined to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. Subsequent to he had been dismissed by the White House, the finance chief Paul O'Neill disclosed how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had announced his intention of lowering America's participation in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and proposed defense operations against Iraq.
Bush bore a private grievance against Saddam, believing he had been responsible for a scheme to assassinate his parent, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore disliked that one of the biggest accommodations in Baghdad had a ground design with a likeness of his predecessor's face that everyone had to step on.
Questioning Techniques
However it was Cheney who was part of the most vociferous advocating invading Iraq, frequently citing agency briefings that were either thin or entirely inaccurate. He backed what the Bush White House euphemistically referred to as "intensive questioning", the use of simulated drowning and torture.
Addressing a Senate analysis in 2014 that concluded that no actionable intelligence had resulted from the torture, Cheney disregarded the findings as "full of crap". He informed Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to establish protocols and establish programmes to catch the perpetrators who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it was not repeated. That is precisely what they did and they earn a lot of credit."
Public Persona
Cheney took pleasure in labels given to him by detractors such as the Star Wars villain and the dark figure, and by the idea that he was a dark force controlling Bush. In the author's 2013 volume about the duo, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is quoted as saying: "Am I the sinister strategist in the background that nobody ever sees come out of his lair? It's a advantageous way to work, truthfully."
Corporate Connections
Dispute over his commercial relationships accompanied him throughout his time as second-in-command. Although he had minimal expertise in business but established relationships in security, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's biggest oil and gas companies, in 1995 as chair and CEO.
In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's election partner for the executive branch. Debatably, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was given US deals worth billions.
It significantly boosted his finances. His yearly earnings during his tenure at the firm increased from his quarter-million dollars while Pentagon chief to millions. When he departed in 2000 he had a package totaling over $20m|twenty
