The former US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who passed away at age 84, was regarded as arguably the most powerful incumbents of the vice-presidency in American history. Whereas many vice-presidents were limited to marginal or ceremonial roles, Cheney exercised enormous power during the administration of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was commonly described as the "actual president".
Bush objected to that description and stated the dynamic was more complex. He observed that Cheney was courteous, invariably calling him in public as President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush questioned even portrayals of their partnership as a partnership because it suggested that they were peers. Despite such protestations, Cheney considered the laidback president pliable on a wide array of governmental choices.
A Period Following the Attacks
At the head of a contingent of conservative hawks that encompassed defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the invasion of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. During of the 9/11 strike, Bush had been attending a meeting at a educational institution in Florida. Whereas Bush headed for a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney took command, directing the destruction of any unidentified planes approaching the US Capitol.
Cheney stated the strikes altered his perspective, causing him to be determined on retaliation. In conjunction with other neo-conservatives, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a takeover of Afghanistan in an endeavor to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then pressed fiercely for the invasion of Iraq, even though there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein having involvement.
Debated Policies
He voiced no apologies about the military campaign, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis perished, and not about the harsh treatment of suspects rounded up after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was predicated on inaccurate intelligence repeated by Cheney, was the correct path to take. "It represented the correct action to do then. I had faith back then and I believe it today."
However even at the time, there were opposing views at a top tier about the botched execution of Iraq. One of the government's own representatives to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the role. "I witnessed, as a baseline," he subsequently stated "clear negligence, negligence, and unaccountability: in the worst case, falsehoods, unfitness, and corruption."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not completely responsible for the Iraq military action. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for similar measures. He had drafted a memorandum setting out circumstances in which American interests might be threatened (including "obtaining essential resources, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "the US should be postured to operate alone when joint efforts prove impossible," specifically citing defense operations against Iraq.
Bush also had arrived in the Oval Office generally inclined on carrying out what his parent had notably declined to do in 1991; remove Saddam. Subsequent to he had been sacked by the White House, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill disclosed how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his objective of lowering America's involvement in the Middle East dispute and suggested armed intervention against Iraq.
Bush carried a personal grudge against Saddam, believing he had been behind a plot to murder his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally disliked that one of the most prominent accommodations in Baghdad had a ground design with a likeness of his father's visage that all visitors had to step on.
Questioning Techniques
But it was Cheney who was among the most outspoken behind invading Iraq, repeatedly referencing agency briefings that were both thin or completely inaccurate. He supported what the Bush government euphemistically referred to as "advanced techniques", the application of simulated drowning and physical pressure.
Answering a Senate document in 2014 that concluded that no useful information had come from the interrogation methods, Cheney disregarded the conclusions as "loaded with crap". He informed Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to establish protocols and create initiatives to catch the perpetrators who took the lives of 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it was not repeated. That was specifically what they did and they merit a lot of recognition."
Public Persona
Cheney took pleasure in labels assigned to him by detractors such as the Star Wars villain and the dark figure, and by the concept that he was a shadow power manipulating Bush. In the journalist's 2013 book about the pair, 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 emerge from his lair? This represents a nice way to function, in fact."
Business Interests
Dispute over his commercial relationships accompanied him through his period as vice-president. While he had minimal expertise in corporate affairs but established relationships in military, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial petroleum corporations, in 1995 as chairman and top executive.
In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's VP candidate for the presidency. Controversially, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was given US deals totaling substantial sums.
It greatly increased his wealth. His yearly earnings during his tenure at the company rose from his $258,394 when he was Pentagon chief to over four million. When he departed in 2000 he had a severance arrangement worth in excess of $20m|twenty
