The former US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who passed away at the age of 84, was considered among the most significant holders of that office in American history. While countless vice-presidents were limited to peripheral or figurehead positions, Cheney exercised substantial power during the administration of George W Bush, so much so that he was frequently called as the "true president".
Bush objected to such a characterisation and said the connection was more complex. He pointed out that Cheney was respectful, invariably calling him in official appearances as Mr President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush disputed even portrayals of their partnership as a team because it suggested that they were on equal footing. In spite of these denials, Cheney viewed the laidback president accommodating on a broad range of policy decisions.
A Period Following the Attacks
Leading of a faction of neo-conservatives that included Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the military intervention of Iraq in 2003 in response to the September 11th attacks on New York and Washington. During of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been participating in a meeting at a school in Florida. As Bush headed for a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, ordering the destruction of any non-communicating planes approaching the US Capitol.
Cheney said the assaults changed him, leading him to become focused on retaliation. In conjunction with other neo-cons, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a occupation of Afghanistan in an attempt to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the invasion of Iraq, even though there was little proof of Saddam Hussein having involvement.
Disputed Decisions
He voiced no apologies about the invasion, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis died, or about the waterboarding of individuals apprehended after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was predicated on misleading information circulated by Cheney, was the correct course of action. "It represented the correct action to do at that time. I believed it then and I believe it presently."
But even then, there were opposing views at a high level about the poor management of Iraq. One of the White House's own delegates to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the role. "I observed, at the very least," he later wrote "true dereliction, carelessness, and irresponsibility: potentially, lying, incompetence, and corruption."
Broader Context
Cheney was not completely accountable for the Iraq military action. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for comparable steps. He had composed a document detailing circumstances in which national priorities might be endangered (encompassing "obtaining crucial commodities, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "the United States should be postured to act independently when joint efforts cannot be arranged," particularly mentioning armed actions against Iraq.
Bush too had arrived in the presidency vaguely intent on executing what his father had notably declined to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. After he had been fired by the president, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the first meeting of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had announced his objective of reducing America's participation in the regional tensions and suggested defense operations against Iraq.
Bush bore a private grievance against Saddam, believing he had been behind a plot to kill his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally disliked that one of the largest establishments in Baghdad had a ground design with a likeness of his parent's visage that all visitors had to step on.
Interrogation Methods
However it was Cheney who was part of the most vehement behind attacking Iraq, repeatedly citing agency briefings that were whether insubstantial or completely misleading. He backed what the Bush White House indirectly described as "intensive questioning", the application of waterboarding and harsh treatment.
Responding to a Senate analysis in 2014 that determined that no useful information had been obtained through the interrogation methods, Cheney dismissed the report as "full of crap". He informed Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to take steps and create initiatives to apprehend the perpetrators who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it never happened again. That is precisely what they did and they earn a lot of recognition."
Public Image
Cheney took pleasure in labels given to him by detractors such as the Star Wars villain and the dark figure, and by the concept that he was a sinister influence controlling Bush. In the journalist's 2013 volume about the duo, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is quoted as saying: "Is it me who is the evil genius in the corner that operates invisibly come out of his hole? That is a nice way to function, truthfully."
Corporate Connections
Debate over his corporate affiliations pursued him during his tenure as vice-president. While he had minimal expertise in business but good contacts in defence, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's largest petroleum conglomerates, in 1995 as chairman and top executive.
In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's election partner for the executive branch. Debatably, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was awarded US contracts valued at billions.
It made him rich. His yearly earnings during his time at the company grew from his previous salary while military head to millions. When he resigned in 2000 he had a severance arrangement valued at in excess of $20m|twenty
