The deceased US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who died at the age of 84, was considered arguably the most powerful occupants of that position in the nation's history. While countless VPs were confined to peripheral or ceremonial roles, Cheney held substantial power during the administration of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was frequently described as the "real president".
Bush disliked that description and stated the connection was more complex. He pointed out that Cheney was respectful, always referring to him in public settings as President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush questioned even characterisations of their partnership as a partnership because it suggested that they were equals. Regardless of these objections, Cheney considered the relaxed president accommodating on a whole raft of policy decisions.
The Period Following the Attacks
In charge of a faction of neo-conservatives that featured Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the military intervention of Iraq in 2003 in reaction to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. At the time of the 9/11 assault, Bush had been participating in a session at a educational institution in Florida. As Bush headed for a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney took command, directing the destruction of any unresponsive airplanes approaching the Capitol building.
Cheney claimed the attacks transformed him, making him become determined on revenge. Together with other neo-cons, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a invasion of Afghanistan in an attempt to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the invasion of Iraq, although there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein playing a role.
Disputed Policies
He expressed no regrets about the military campaign, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis perished, and not about the harsh treatment of individuals rounded up after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was based on inaccurate reports repeated by Cheney, was the right path to take. "It proved to be the correct action to do then. I was convinced then and I maintain that stance today."
However during that period, there were opposing views at a senior level about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the government's own delegates to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the role. "I witnessed, at a minimum," he later wrote "clear negligence, negligence, and recklessness: at worst, lying, ineptitude, and graft."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not solely accountable for the Iraq campaign. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for such action. He had composed a memo setting out circumstances in which national priorities might be compromised (including "access to essential resources, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "the US should be prepared to act independently when collective action prove impossible," particularly referencing defense operations against Iraq.
Bush also had arrived in the Oval Office vaguely intent on carrying out what his predecessor had specifically avoided to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. After he had been dismissed by the president, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his objective of diminishing America's engagement in the Middle East dispute and mooted defense operations against Iraq.
Bush held a individual resentment against Saddam, thinking he had been responsible for a plot to murder his parent, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore objected to that one of the most prominent establishments in Baghdad had a floor mural with a likeness of his father's countenance that each person had to tread upon.
Questioning Techniques
However it was Cheney who was one of the most vociferous behind invading Iraq, frequently quoting information documents that were both thin or completely misleading. He supported what the Bush administration euphemistically referred to as "enhanced interrogation", the application of waterboarding and physical pressure.
Answering a Senate analysis in 2014 that determined that no valuable data had come from the interrogation methods, Cheney dismissed the conclusions as "full of crap". He told Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to take steps and put in place initiatives to catch the bastards who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it would not recur. That is precisely what they did and they merit a lot of praise."
Public Image
Cheney reveled in nicknames imposed on him by detractors such as the Star Wars villain and The Prince of Darkness, and by the concept that he was a sinister influence directing Bush. In the author's 2013 volume about the duo, 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? It's a effective way to operate, actually."
Corporate Connections
Dispute over his commercial relationships accompanied him through his period as VP. While he had minimal expertise in business but good contacts in defence, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial oil and gas corporations, in 1995 as chairman and top executive.
In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's election partner for the presidency. Debatably, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was given US agreements totaling billions.
It significantly boosted his finances. His yearly compensation during his time at the firm increased from his $258,394 during his time as military head to millions. When he departed in 2000 he had a severance arrangement worth in excess of $20m|twenty
