The former US VP Dick Cheney, who passed away at the age of 84, was regarded as among the most significant holders of that office in American history. Whereas countless second-in-commands had to settle for marginal or symbolic roles, Cheney held substantial sway during the presidency of George W Bush, to the point that he was often called as the "actual president".
Bush disliked that description and said the connection was more complicated. He noted that Cheney was courteous, always calling him in public settings as the President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush questioned even portrayals of their partnership as a partnership because it indicated that they were on equal footing. Despite these denials, Cheney considered the relaxed president accommodating on a wide array of policy decisions.
A Period Following the Attacks
In charge of a group of conservative hawks that featured defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the military intervention of Iraq in 2003 in reaction to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 strike, Bush had been participating in a meeting at a educational institution in Florida. Whereas Bush headed for a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, ordering the destruction of any unidentified airplanes approaching the US Capitol.
Cheney stated the assaults altered his perspective, making him become focused on retaliation. Together with other conservative figures, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a occupation of Afghanistan in an effort to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the military action of Iraq, even though there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Controversial Policies
He expressed no regrets about the invasion, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, nor about the harsh treatment of individuals rounded up after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was founded on faulty information circulated by Cheney, was the correct decision. "It proved to be the correct action to do then. I had faith back then and I maintain that stance now."
But even then, there were contrary opinions at a high level about the poor management of Iraq. One of the administration's own delegates to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the post. "I saw, at the very least," he wrote later "clear negligence, carelessness, and recklessness: in the worst case, deception, ineptitude, and dishonesty."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not solely accountable for the Iraq military action. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for such action. He had composed a memo detailing scenarios in which national priorities might be threatened (including "availability of essential resources, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "America should be prepared to take unilateral action when joint efforts cannot be orchestrated," specifically mentioning military moves against Iraq.
Bush additionally had arrived in the presidency somewhat determined on implementing what his father had famously refused to do in 1991; remove Saddam. After he had been dismissed by the president, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill disclosed how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had announced his intention of lowering America's participation in the Middle East dispute and mooted defense operations against Iraq.
Bush bore a personal grudge against Saddam, thinking he had been involved in a conspiracy to kill his father, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally resented that one of the largest accommodations in Baghdad had a ground design with a image of his predecessor's countenance that all visitors had to walk over.
Questioning Techniques
But it was Cheney who was part of the most vociferous supporting striking Iraq, frequently referencing agency briefings that were whether weak or totally misleading. He supported what the Bush administration euphemistically referred to as "intensive questioning", the employment of interrogation method and torture.
Answering a Senate document in 2014 that found that no actionable intelligence had come from the torture, Cheney rejected the conclusions as "riddled with crap". He stated to Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to establish protocols and establish initiatives to catch the perpetrators who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it would not recur. That's exactly what they did and they merit a lot of credit."
Public Persona
Cheney reveled in nicknames assigned to him by opponents such as the dark character and the sinister presence, and by the notion that he was a sinister influence manipulating Bush. In Peter Baker'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 sinister strategist in the shadows that operates invisibly come out of his hole? This represents a effective way to work, in fact."
Commercial Ties
Controversy over his commercial relationships followed him during his tenure as second-in-command. Although he had little experience in business but established relationships in security, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial energy corporations, in 1995 as chairman and chief executive.
In 2000 he became Bush's running mate for the White House. Contentiously, during the military campaign, Halliburton was given US contracts worth substantial sums.
It greatly increased his wealth. His annual income during his time at the company grew from his quarter-million dollars when he was Pentagon chief to over four million. When he left in 2000 he had a compensation package worth over $20m|twenty