The former US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who died at age 84, was regarded as one of the most significant occupants of that position in American history. While countless vice-presidents were confined to peripheral or symbolic roles, Cheney wielded huge power during the presidency of George W Bush, to the point that he was frequently called as the "true president".
Bush objected to this portrayal and stated the dynamic was more nuanced. He noted that Cheney was respectful, always referring to him in public settings as Mr President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush disputed even characterisations of their relationship as a partnership because it implied that they were peers. Regardless of these objections, Cheney found the laidback president accommodating on a wide array of governmental choices.
The Post-9/11 Era
In charge of a faction of neo-conservatives that included military head Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the military intervention of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. At the time of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been attending a meeting at a educational institution in Florida. As Bush traveled to a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney took command, commanding the downing of any unidentified aircraft approaching the US Capitol.
Cheney stated the attacks altered his perspective, leading him to become focused on retaliation. Together with other neo-conservatives, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a takeover of Afghanistan in an endeavor to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the invasion of Iraq, though there was little proof of Saddam Hussein playing a role.
Debated Decisions
He voiced no apologies about the invasion, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis perished, nor about the enhanced interrogation of detainees apprehended after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was predicated on misleading information repeated by Cheney, was the right course of action. "It proved to be the proper decision to do back then. I had faith back then and I believe it presently."
However even then, there were contrary opinions at a top tier about the botched execution of Iraq. One of the administration's own representatives to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the post. "I observed, at the very least," he wrote later "clear negligence, carelessness, and recklessness: at worst, falsehoods, ineptitude, and graft."
Additional Factors
Cheney was not solely to blame for the Iraq campaign. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for comparable steps. He had written a memo detailing circumstances in which American interests might be threatened (including "availability of vital raw materials, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "the US should be positioned to take unilateral action when collective action cannot be orchestrated," explicitly referencing armed actions against Iraq.
Bush additionally had assumed the Oval Office somewhat determined on carrying out what his father had famously refused to do in 1991; remove Saddam. Subsequent to he had been sacked by the president, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill disclosed how, at the first meeting of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his plan of lowering America's participation in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and proposed military action against Iraq.
Bush bore a individual resentment against Saddam, believing he had been involved in a plot to murder his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally objected to that one of the biggest accommodations in Baghdad had a ground design with a image of his father's countenance that each person had to tread upon.
Questioning Techniques
But it was Cheney who was part of the most vehement behind attacking Iraq, frequently referencing information documents that were either insubstantial or completely inaccurate. He backed what the Bush White House 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 resulted from the harsh techniques, Cheney dismissed the findings as "riddled with crap". He told Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to take steps and establish procedures to capture the individuals who took the lives of 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it was not repeated. That is precisely what they did and they deserve a lot of credit."
External Perception
Cheney enjoyed labels given to him by detractors such as Darth Vader and the dark figure, and by the idea that he was a sinister influence directing Bush. In Peter Baker's 2013 book about the pair, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is reported as stating: "Is it me who is the evil genius in the background that operates invisibly emerge from his lair? This represents a effective way to function, actually."
Commercial Ties
Controversy over his corporate affiliations followed him throughout his time as second-in-command. While he had limited background in corporate affairs but good contacts in security, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's largest petroleum conglomerates, in 1995 as chairman and CEO.
In 2000 he was selected as Bush's election partner for the executive branch. Controversially, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was granted US contracts worth multiple billions.
It greatly increased his wealth. His yearly earnings during his time at the firm grew from his $258,394 when he was Pentagon chief to $4.4m. When he resigned in 2000 he had a compensation package worth more than $20m|twenty
