The deceased US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who passed away at age 84, was considered arguably the most powerful occupants of that position in the nation's history. Although many VPs had to settle for minor or ceremonial positions, Cheney wielded enormous sway during the term of George W Bush, to the point that he was commonly described as the "true president".
Bush resented such a characterisation and said the dynamic was more complex. He pointed out that Cheney was deferential, invariably addressing him in official appearances as President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush disputed even characterisations of their partnership as a team because it implied that they were equals. Regardless of these objections, Cheney viewed the easygoing president pliable on a broad range of governmental choices.
A Post-9/11 Era
In charge of a group of neo-conservatives that featured defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the invasion of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 strike, Bush had been taking part in a session at a school in Florida. Whereas Bush traveled to a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, commanding the destruction of any unidentified airplanes heading toward the government building.
Cheney said the attacks changed him, leading him to become determined on revenge. Along with other neo-cons, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a invasion of Afghanistan in an effort to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then pressed fiercely for the military action of Iraq, though there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein having involvement.
Debated Actions
He showed no remorse about the invasion, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis died, or about the harsh treatment of suspects captured after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was predicated on inaccurate reports repeated by Cheney, was the proper course of action. "It represented the proper decision to do back then. I had faith back then and I believe it today."
But even at the time, there were dissenting voices at a high level about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the government's own special envoys to the Middle East, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the post. "I saw, at the very least," he wrote later "clear negligence, carelessness, and recklessness: in the worst case, falsehoods, unfitness, and graft."
Broader Context
Cheney was not completely to blame for the Iraq military action. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for comparable steps. He had composed a memorandum detailing situations in which national priorities might be threatened (including "obtaining essential resources, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "the US should be postured to take unilateral action when joint efforts cannot be arranged," specifically citing military moves against Iraq.
Bush too had arrived in the presidency vaguely intent on executing what his parent had specifically avoided to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. Following he had been dismissed by the White House, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his plan of lowering America's engagement in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and mooted defense operations against Iraq.
Bush held a personal grudge against Saddam, convinced he had been responsible for a scheme to murder his parent, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He also disliked that one of the largest accommodations in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a likeness of his predecessor's visage that all visitors had to step on.
Questioning Techniques
However it was Cheney who was part of the most vehement behind attacking Iraq, consistently citing agency briefings that were both thin or entirely deceptive. He endorsed what the Bush White House indirectly described as "advanced techniques", the employment of waterboarding and harsh treatment.
Addressing a Senate report in 2014 that determined that no useful information had resulted from the harsh techniques, Cheney dismissed the findings as "full of crap". He stated to Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to take steps and create procedures to catch the bastards who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it was not repeated. That is precisely what they did and they deserve a lot of recognition."
Public Image
Cheney reveled in nicknames imposed on him by opponents such as Darth Vader and the sinister presence, and by the idea that he was a dark force directing Bush. In Peter Baker's 2013 book about the pair, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is reported as stating: "Do I represent the sinister strategist in the background that nobody ever sees emerge from his lair? It's a advantageous way to function, actually."
Business Interests
Dispute over his commercial relationships followed him throughout his time as VP. While he had limited background in commerce but good contacts in defence, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's largest oil and gas corporations, in 1995 as leader and chief executive.
In 2000 he was selected as Bush's VP candidate for the White House. Controversially, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was given US contracts valued at billions.
It significantly boosted his finances. His annual income during his tenure at the firm increased from his quarter-million dollars during his time as military head to over four million. When he resigned in 2000 he had a package valued at over $20m|twenty
