The former US VP Dick Cheney, who died at the age of 84, was regarded as one of the most significant occupants of that office in the nation's history. Although many second-in-commands had to settle for peripheral or figurehead functions, Cheney held substantial influence during the presidency of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was frequently called as the "real president".
Bush objected to such a characterisation and claimed the relationship was more complicated. He pointed out that Cheney was respectful, consistently addressing him in official appearances as the President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush challenged even descriptions of their relationship as a team because it suggested that they were peers. Regardless of such protestations, Cheney found the laidback president malleable on a broad range of administrative determinations.
A Period Following the Attacks
At the head of a faction of neo-conservatives that included defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the military intervention of Iraq in 2003 in response to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. At the time of the 9/11 assault, Bush had been taking part in a gathering at a educational institution in Florida. As Bush headed for a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney took command, directing the shooting down of any unidentified planes nearing the government building.
Cheney said the assaults changed him, making him become determined on revenge. In conjunction with other neo-cons, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a occupation of Afghanistan in an attempt to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the military action of Iraq, even though there was little proof of Saddam Hussein playing a role.
Debated Decisions
He voiced no apologies about the armed intervention, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis died, nor about the harsh treatment of detainees captured after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was founded on misleading intelligence echoed by Cheney, was the proper decision. "It proved to be the right thing to do then. I was convinced at the time and I hold that view presently."
However during that period, there were opposing views at a high level about the botched execution of Iraq. One of the White House's own delegates to the Middle East, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the position. "I witnessed, as a baseline," he subsequently stated "obvious failure, inaction, and recklessness: in the worst case, lying, unfitness, and graft."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not completely to blame for the Iraq military action. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for similar measures. He had drafted a memo setting out circumstances in which American interests might be threatened (encompassing "availability of crucial commodities, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "America should be prepared to act independently when cooperative measures cannot be arranged," explicitly citing armed actions against Iraq.
Bush too had assumed the Oval Office vaguely intent on executing what his parent had specifically avoided to do in 1991; remove Saddam. Following he had been sacked by the White House, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill disclosed how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his plan of lowering America's engagement in the regional tensions and proposed military action against Iraq.
Bush carried a personal grudge against Saddam, believing he had been involved in a plot to murder his parent, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He also disliked that one of the most prominent accommodations in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a portrait of his predecessor's visage that all visitors had to step on.
Questioning Techniques
But it was Cheney who was part of the most vehement advocating striking Iraq, consistently citing agency briefings that were either thin or completely inaccurate. He endorsed what the Bush White House politely called as "intensive questioning", the application of simulated drowning and torture.
Answering a Senate document in 2014 that determined that no actionable intelligence had been obtained through the torture, Cheney dismissed the report as "loaded with crap". He told Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to implement measures and put in place initiatives to catch the bastards who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it was not repeated. That was specifically what they did and they merit a lot of recognition."
External Perception
Cheney reveled in nicknames imposed on him by detractors such as the Star Wars villain and the dark figure, and by the notion that he was a dark force controlling 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 evil genius in the shadows that operates invisibly emerge from his hole? That is a effective way to operate, actually."
Business Interests
Dispute over his business interests accompanied him throughout his time as second-in-command. While he had little experience in corporate affairs but strong connections in military, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's largest energy companies, in 1995 as chairman and CEO.
In 2000 he became Bush's running mate for the executive branch. Controversially, during the military campaign, Halliburton was given US contracts valued at billions.
It significantly boosted his finances. His annual income during his time at the company rose from his previous salary when he was defence secretary to over four million. When he resigned in 2000 he had a package valued at in excess of $20m|twenty
