The late US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who died at the age of 84, was seen as among the most powerful holders of that position in American history. While many vice-presidents were confined to peripheral or figurehead positions, Cheney exercised enormous power during the administration of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was often called as the "actual president".
Bush disliked this portrayal and said the relationship was more complex. He pointed out that Cheney was respectful, invariably referring to him in public as the President, while he called him as Dick. Bush challenged even characterisations of their association as a partnership because it indicated that they were equals. Despite these objections, Cheney considered the easygoing president malleable on a broad range of policy decisions.
A Post-9/11 Era
At the head of a group of neo-cons that featured Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 strike, Bush had been attending a session at a educational institution in Florida. Whereas Bush headed for a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, ordering the destruction of any unresponsive aircraft heading toward the US Capitol.
Cheney stated the assaults changed him, causing him to be intent on revenge. Along with other neo-conservatives, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a occupation of Afghanistan in an endeavor to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the invasion of Iraq, although there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein playing a role.
Debated Decisions
He showed no remorse about the armed intervention, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis died, or about the enhanced interrogation of suspects captured after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was predicated on inaccurate information circulated by Cheney, was the right course of action. "It proved to be the correct action to do at that time. I had faith back then and I hold that view now."
But during that period, there were dissenting voices at a high level about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the administration's own special envoys to the Middle East, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the position. "I observed, at a minimum," he wrote later "clear negligence, negligence, and recklessness: at worst, falsehoods, unfitness, and graft."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not completely to blame for the Iraq military action. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for such action. He had drafted a document setting out scenarios in which national priorities might be threatened (featuring "access to vital raw materials, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "America should be postured to act independently when joint efforts prove impossible," specifically citing armed actions against Iraq.
Bush too had assumed the White House vaguely intent on carrying out what his predecessor had famously refused to do in 1991; remove Saddam. Following he had been sacked by the White House, the finance chief Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his plan of diminishing America's participation in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and mooted armed intervention against Iraq.
Bush bore a private grievance against Saddam, thinking he had been behind a conspiracy to assassinate his parent, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore objected to that one of the most prominent establishments in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a likeness of his parent's visage that everyone had to tread upon.
Questioning Techniques
But it was Cheney who was one of the most vehement supporting invading Iraq, frequently quoting agency briefings that were both thin or entirely deceptive. He backed what the Bush administration euphemistically referred to as "intensive questioning", the use of interrogation method and physical pressure.
Responding to a Senate analysis in 2014 that concluded that no useful information had come from the interrogation methods, Cheney rejected the conclusions as "riddled with crap". He stated to Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to establish protocols and put in place initiatives to catch the bastards who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it never happened again. That's exactly what they did and they merit a lot of credit."
Public Persona
Cheney reveled in monikers imposed on him by opponents such as Darth Vader and the dark figure, and by the concept that he was a dark force directing Bush. In the journalist's 2013 volume about the duo, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is cited as commenting: "Do I represent the malevolent mastermind in the corner that remains unseen emerge from his hole? That is a nice way to function, truthfully."
Business Interests
Debate over his business interests pursued him during his tenure as vice-president. Although he had minimal expertise in commerce but established relationships in military, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial petroleum corporations, in 1995 as leader and chief executive.
In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's running mate for the presidency. Debatably, during the military campaign, Halliburton was awarded US deals valued at billions.
It significantly boosted his finances. His annual income during his time at the firm increased from his quarter-million dollars while military head to over four million. When he left in 2000 he had a compensation package valued at in excess of $20m|twenty
