The late US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who passed away at the age of 84, was regarded as one of the most significant holders of that position in US history. Whereas countless vice-presidents were confined to minor or symbolic functions, Cheney wielded substantial power during the administration of George W Bush, so much so that he was often described as the "true president".
Bush resented this portrayal and claimed the relationship was more complicated. He pointed out that Cheney was courteous, consistently referring to him in public as Mr President, while he called him as Dick. Bush disputed even characterisations of their partnership as a team because it suggested that they were equals. Regardless of these denials, Cheney considered the laidback president accommodating on a whole raft of governmental choices.
A Period Following the Attacks
In charge of a faction of neo-cons that included military head Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in reaction to the September 11th attacks on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been taking part in a gathering at a elementary school in Florida. As Bush headed for a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, directing the shooting down of any unresponsive aircraft heading toward the Capitol building.
Cheney claimed the assaults transformed him, making him become intent on retribution. Together with other conservative figures, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a takeover of Afghanistan in an endeavor to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then pressed fiercely for the armed intervention of Iraq, even though there was little proof of Saddam Hussein playing a role.
Controversial Decisions
He showed no remorse about the military campaign, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, nor about the enhanced interrogation of individuals captured after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was founded on misleading intelligence circulated by Cheney, was the proper path to take. "It was the right thing to do then. I was convinced then and I hold that view presently."
But even then, there were opposing views at a high level about the poor management of Iraq. One of the administration's own delegates to the Middle East, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the role. "I observed, at the very least," he wrote later "obvious failure, carelessness, and unaccountability: at worst, lying, unfitness, and dishonesty."
Broader Context
Cheney was not solely accountable for the Iraq invasion. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for such action. He had written a document detailing situations in which US concerns might be threatened (featuring "obtaining vital raw materials, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "the United States should be positioned to take unilateral action when cooperative measures cannot be arranged," particularly citing military moves against Iraq.
Bush additionally had arrived in the Oval Office vaguely intent on carrying out what his predecessor had specifically avoided to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. Subsequent to he had been dismissed by the administration, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill disclosed how, at the first meeting of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had announced his intention of reducing America's involvement in the regional tensions and proposed military action against Iraq.
Bush held a personal grudge against Saddam, convinced he had been responsible for a conspiracy to murder his parent, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He also resented that one of the largest accommodations in Baghdad had a ground design with a image of his parent's countenance that all visitors had to step on.
Interrogation Methods
But it was Cheney who was part of the most vehement supporting invading Iraq, consistently citing agency briefings that were either insubstantial or totally deceptive. He backed what the Bush administration indirectly described as "advanced techniques", the employment of interrogation method and harsh treatment.
Responding to a Senate report in 2014 that found that no useful information had been obtained through the torture, Cheney disregarded the report as "loaded with crap". He stated to Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to implement measures and establish procedures to capture the individuals who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it would not recur. That was specifically what they did and they merit a lot of credit."
Public Persona
Cheney took pleasure in monikers imposed on him by opponents such as Darth Vader and the sinister presence, and by the notion that he was a sinister influence directing Bush. In the journalist's 2013 book about the pair, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is quoted as saying: "Do I represent the malevolent mastermind in the background that remains unseen come out of his lair? That is a effective way to operate, actually."
Corporate Connections
Controversy over his commercial relationships accompanied him through his period as vice-president. While he had minimal expertise in commerce but established relationships in military, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's largest petroleum companies, in 1995 as leader and top executive.
In 2000 he was selected as Bush's VP candidate for the White House. Debatably, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was granted US deals valued at multiple billions.
It greatly increased his wealth. His yearly compensation during his period at the firm grew from his previous salary during his time as Pentagon chief to $4.4m. When he left in 2000 he had a package worth over $20m|twenty
