The former US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who died at the age of 84, was seen as among the most powerful occupants of that position in US history. Although countless vice-presidents were limited to minor or symbolic functions, Cheney wielded huge sway during the term of George W Bush, so much so that he was often described as the "real president".
Bush resented this portrayal and said the relationship was more complicated. He pointed out that Cheney was respectful, invariably referring to him in public settings as Mr President, while he called him as Dick. Bush challenged even descriptions of their association as a team because it implied that they were on equal footing. Despite these objections, Cheney viewed the easygoing president malleable on a broad range of governmental choices.
The Period Following the Attacks
At the head of a group of conservative hawks that encompassed military head Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the military intervention of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the September 11th attacks on New York and Washington. At the time of the 9/11 assault, Bush had been participating in a meeting at a elementary school in Florida. While Bush traveled to a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, ordering the downing of any non-communicating aircraft approaching the Capitol building.
Cheney stated the attacks changed him, causing him to be intent on revenge. In conjunction with other conservative figures, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a invasion of Afghanistan in an attempt to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the military action of Iraq, though there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein having involvement.
Disputed Decisions
He expressed no regrets about the invasion, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis perished, and not about the harsh treatment of suspects apprehended after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was founded on faulty reports echoed by Cheney, was the correct decision. "It was the right thing to do then. I believed it then and I hold that view now."
But during that period, there were opposing views at a top tier about the botched execution of Iraq. One of the White House's own delegates to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the role. "I saw, as a baseline," he later wrote "true dereliction, carelessness, and unaccountability: in the worst case, falsehoods, incompetence, and graft."
Additional Factors
Cheney was not solely responsible for the Iraq military action. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for similar measures. He had composed a memorandum detailing scenarios in which American interests might be endangered (encompassing "access to vital raw materials, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "the US should be prepared to act independently when cooperative measures prove impossible," specifically citing defense operations against Iraq.
Bush additionally had arrived in the presidency somewhat determined on implementing what his parent had notably declined to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. After he had been dismissed by the president, the finance chief Paul O'Neill disclosed how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his objective of lowering America's participation in the Middle East dispute and mooted armed intervention against Iraq.
Bush carried a personal grudge against Saddam, believing he had been responsible for a plot to assassinate his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally objected to that one of the biggest hotels in Baghdad had a ground design with a likeness of his predecessor's visage that each person had to step on.
Questioning Techniques
Yet it was Cheney who was among the most vociferous behind attacking Iraq, repeatedly referencing agency briefings that were either thin or totally deceptive. He endorsed what the Bush White House euphemistically referred to as "intensive questioning", the employment of waterboarding and torture.
Addressing a Senate document in 2014 that determined that no actionable intelligence had resulted from the torture, Cheney dismissed the findings as "riddled with crap". He informed Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to take steps and create programmes to capture the perpetrators who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it never happened again. That's exactly what they did and they merit a lot of credit."
Public Image
Cheney reveled in nicknames given to him by detractors such as Darth Vader and The Prince of Darkness, and by the concept that he was a shadow power directing Bush. In the journalist's 2013 publication about the pair, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is cited as commenting: "Is it me who is the malevolent mastermind in the shadows that nobody ever sees come out of his domain? That is a effective way to work, actually."
Corporate Connections
Controversy over his corporate affiliations accompanied him during his tenure as VP. While he had little experience in corporate affairs but established relationships in military, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's largest petroleum companies, in 1995 as leader and chief executive.
In 2000 he became Bush's election partner for the White House. Controversially, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was awarded US contracts totaling billions.
It made him rich. His yearly earnings during his time at the company increased from his quarter-million dollars while military head to over four million. When he resigned in 2000 he had a package valued at more than $20m|twenty
