The deceased US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who died at age 84, was considered among the most powerful incumbents of the vice-presidency in the nation's history. Although countless VPs had to settle for marginal or figurehead roles, Cheney wielded substantial sway during the administration of George W Bush, so much so that he was commonly described as the "true president".
Bush disliked this portrayal and stated the connection was more complicated. He observed that Cheney was respectful, always addressing him in public settings as President, while he called him as Dick. Bush questioned even descriptions of their relationship as a collaboration because it indicated that they were peers. In spite of these objections, Cheney found the easygoing president malleable on a broad range of governmental choices.
A Aftermath of 9/11
At the head of a group of neo-conservatives that featured military head Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the invasion of Iraq in 2003 in response to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been participating in a session at a school in Florida. Whereas Bush made his way to a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney took command, commanding the destruction of any unresponsive airplanes heading toward the Capitol building.
Cheney claimed the attacks transformed him, leading him to become focused on revenge. Along with other conservative figures, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a invasion of Afghanistan in an endeavor to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then pressed fiercely for the armed intervention of Iraq, even though there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein playing a role.
Debated Policies
He voiced no apologies about the military campaign, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, or about the harsh treatment of detainees captured after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was predicated on misleading reports echoed by Cheney, was the proper decision. "It represented the correct action to do at that time. I had faith back then and I believe it presently."
But during that period, there were opposing views at a top tier 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 reappointed from the position. "I saw, at a minimum," he subsequently stated "obvious failure, inaction, and irresponsibility: in the worst case, lying, incompetence, and graft."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not solely accountable for the Iraq campaign. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for such action. He had drafted a memorandum detailing situations in which national priorities might be threatened (encompassing "access to vital raw materials, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "the US should be prepared to act independently when joint efforts prove impossible," explicitly mentioning armed actions against Iraq.
Bush too had entered the presidency vaguely intent on implementing what his predecessor had famously refused to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. Following he had been fired by the administration, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had announced his intention of diminishing America's participation in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and mooted armed intervention against Iraq.
Bush held a individual resentment against Saddam, convinced he had been responsible for a conspiracy to assassinate his father, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore disliked that one of the biggest establishments in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a image of his parent's face that everyone had to step on.
Interrogation Methods
But it was Cheney who was among the most outspoken behind attacking Iraq, repeatedly referencing intelligence reports that were both thin or completely inaccurate. He endorsed what the Bush administration euphemistically referred to as "enhanced interrogation", the employment of waterboarding and harsh treatment.
Addressing a Senate report in 2014 that found that no valuable data had been obtained through the harsh techniques, Cheney rejected the conclusions as "full of crap". He informed Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to take steps and create programmes to capture the individuals who took the lives of 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it would not recur. That was specifically what they did and they merit a lot of praise."
Public Persona
Cheney enjoyed monikers imposed on him by critics such as the dark character and the sinister presence, and by the concept that he was a dark force manipulating Bush. In Peter Baker's 2013 book about the two, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is reported as stating: "Am I the evil genius in the shadows that nobody ever sees leave his hole? That is a effective way to function, truthfully."
Corporate Connections
Debate over his business interests accompanied him throughout his time as VP. Although he had minimal expertise in business but strong connections in defence, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's biggest petroleum conglomerates, in 1995 as chair and top executive.
In 2000 he was selected as Bush's VP candidate for the presidency. Debatably, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was awarded US contracts valued at billions.
It made him rich. His yearly earnings during his period at the firm increased from his previous salary while Pentagon chief to millions. When he departed in 2000 he had a compensation package totaling over $20m|twenty
