The late US VP Dick Cheney, who passed away at the age of 84, was considered one of the most significant incumbents of that position in American history. While countless second-in-commands were confined to marginal or figurehead roles, Cheney held huge sway during the term of George W Bush, so much so that he was commonly called as the "actual president".
Bush objected to that description and claimed the connection was more complicated. He noted that Cheney was respectful, invariably addressing him in public settings as Mr President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush disputed even portrayals of their partnership as a partnership because it indicated that they were peers. Despite these objections, Cheney found the relaxed president accommodating on a whole raft of policy decisions.
A Post-9/11 Era
At the head of a contingent of neo-cons that included defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in response to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. During of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been taking part in a session at a elementary school in Florida. While Bush traveled to a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney took command, ordering the destruction of any non-communicating airplanes approaching the Capitol building.
Cheney stated the assaults altered his perspective, causing him to be focused on retaliation. Together with other conservative figures, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a takeover of Afghanistan in an effort to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the military action of Iraq, although there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein having involvement.
Disputed Actions
He showed no remorse about the armed intervention, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis perished, and not about the harsh treatment of detainees apprehended after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was predicated on misleading information echoed by Cheney, was the correct decision. "It represented the proper decision to do back then. I was convinced at the time and I believe it today."
However during that period, there were contrary opinions at a high level about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the White House's own delegates to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the post. "I observed, at the very least," he wrote later "clear negligence, inaction, and irresponsibility: at worst, falsehoods, unfitness, and corruption."
Additional Factors
Cheney was not entirely responsible for the Iraq military action. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for such action. He had drafted a memo outlining circumstances in which American interests might be threatened (including "obtaining vital raw materials, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "America should be postured to act independently when collective action prove impossible," explicitly referencing defense operations against Iraq.
Bush also had arrived in the Oval Office vaguely intent on executing what his predecessor had specifically avoided to do in 1991; topple Saddam. After he had been sacked by the White House, the finance chief Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his intention of reducing America's involvement in the regional tensions and proposed military action against Iraq.
Bush bore a private grievance against Saddam, believing he had been responsible for a conspiracy to kill his parent, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore objected to that one of the biggest hotels in Baghdad had a ground design with a likeness of his predecessor's face that everyone had to walk over.
Interrogation Methods
Yet it was Cheney who was one of the most vociferous behind attacking Iraq, repeatedly citing agency briefings that were either weak or entirely misleading. He endorsed what the Bush administration indirectly described as "enhanced interrogation", the employment of waterboarding and harsh treatment.
Addressing a Senate report in 2014 that determined that no actionable intelligence had been obtained through the interrogation methods, Cheney rejected the report as "loaded with crap". He told Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to establish protocols and create initiatives to capture the individuals who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it would not recur. That's exactly what they did and they earn a lot of credit."
Public Image
Cheney reveled in nicknames imposed on him by critics such as the Star Wars villain and the dark figure, and by the notion that he was a sinister influence manipulating Bush. In the journalist's 2013 volume about the duo, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is reported as stating: "Is it me who is the malevolent mastermind in the shadows that operates invisibly leave his domain? This represents a advantageous way to function, actually."
Corporate Connections
Controversy over his commercial relationships pursued him during his tenure as second-in-command. While he had minimal expertise in corporate affairs but established relationships in military, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's biggest petroleum companies, in 1995 as chairman and chief executive.
In 2000 he was selected as Bush's election partner for the White House. Contentiously, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was given US agreements totaling substantial sums.
It significantly boosted his finances. His annual income during his period at the corporation grew from his $258,394 during his time as Pentagon chief to $4.4m. When he resigned in 2000 he had a severance arrangement totaling more than $20m|twenty
