The deceased US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who passed away at age 84, was seen as one of the most powerful incumbents of the vice-presidency in the nation's history. Whereas numerous VPs were limited to minor or symbolic roles, Cheney held huge power during the term of George W Bush, so much so that he was often called as the "real president".
Bush disliked this portrayal and stated the relationship was more complex. He observed that Cheney was respectful, always addressing him in public as the President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush questioned even portrayals of their relationship as a team because it implied that they were peers. Despite these denials, Cheney considered the relaxed president malleable on a broad range of governmental choices.
A Post-9/11 Era
At the head of a contingent of conservative hawks that included military head Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in response to the September 11th attacks on New York and Washington. During of the 9/11 strike, Bush had been taking part in a session at a educational institution in Florida. As Bush headed for a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, directing the destruction of any non-communicating aircraft approaching the Capitol building.
Cheney said the attacks changed him, making him become intent on revenge. In conjunction with other conservative figures, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a occupation of Afghanistan in an effort to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then pressed fiercely for the invasion of Iraq, although there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein playing a role.
Controversial Actions
He showed no remorse about the invasion, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis died, nor about the harsh treatment of suspects rounded up after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was predicated on inaccurate information circulated by Cheney, was the right course of action. "It proved to be the right thing to do then. I had faith then and I hold that view today."
But even at the time, there were contrary opinions at a high level about the poor management of Iraq. One of the administration's own delegates to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the position. "I witnessed, as a baseline," he subsequently stated "true dereliction, carelessness, and irresponsibility: potentially, falsehoods, unfitness, and graft."
Broader Context
Cheney was not solely accountable for the Iraq campaign. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for such action. He had composed a document outlining circumstances in which US concerns might be endangered (including "access to essential resources, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "America should be prepared to take unilateral action when joint efforts cannot be orchestrated," specifically citing armed actions against Iraq.
Bush additionally had arrived in the White House vaguely intent on executing what his predecessor had notably declined to do in 1991; remove Saddam. After he had been dismissed by the president, the finance chief Paul O'Neill disclosed how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had announced his objective of diminishing America's involvement in the Middle East dispute and suggested defense operations against Iraq.
Bush bore a personal grudge against Saddam, convinced he had been responsible for a plot to kill his father, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore disliked that one of the most prominent establishments in Baghdad had a floor mural with a likeness of his father's visage that all visitors had to step on.
Questioning Techniques
But it was Cheney who was part of the most vehement behind striking Iraq, consistently citing information documents that were both insubstantial or completely inaccurate. He endorsed what the Bush White House politely called as "enhanced interrogation", the application of waterboarding and harsh treatment.
Addressing a Senate document in 2014 that determined that no valuable data had been obtained through the torture, Cheney disregarded the report as "loaded with crap". He informed Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to implement measures and create procedures to capture the individuals who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it never happened again. That's exactly what they did and they deserve a lot of recognition."
Public Image
Cheney enjoyed monikers assigned to him by detractors such as the dark character and The Prince of Darkness, and by the idea that he was a shadow power manipulating Bush. In Peter Baker's 2013 publication about the two, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is quoted as saying: "Is it me who is the sinister strategist in the background that remains unseen leave his hole? This represents a advantageous way to operate, actually."
Commercial Ties
Dispute over his business interests pursued him through his period as vice-president. Although he had little experience in business but good contacts in security, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial petroleum corporations, in 1995 as leader and top executive.
In 2000 he was selected as Bush's running mate for the White House. Contentiously, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was awarded US contracts valued at multiple billions.
It made him rich. His yearly compensation during his time at the corporation increased from his quarter-million dollars while military head to over four million. When he left in 2000 he had a severance arrangement valued at more than $20m|twenty
