The former US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who passed away at the age of 84, was regarded as among the most influential holders of that position in US history. Whereas numerous vice-presidents had to settle for marginal or symbolic positions, Cheney held huge sway during the term of George W Bush, to the point that he was commonly called as the "true president".
Bush objected to this portrayal and said the relationship was more nuanced. He pointed out that Cheney was courteous, consistently referring to him in public settings as President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush challenged even portrayals of their association as a partnership because it implied that they were on equal footing. Despite these objections, Cheney viewed the relaxed president accommodating on a wide array of governmental choices.
The Period Following the Attacks
In charge of a contingent of neo-conservatives that included defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the invasion of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. During of the 9/11 assault, Bush had been taking part in a gathering at a school in Florida. As Bush headed for a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, commanding the shooting down of any unidentified aircraft nearing the government building.
Cheney claimed the strikes changed him, causing him to be intent on revenge. Along with other conservative figures, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a invasion of Afghanistan in an attempt to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then pressed fiercely for the armed intervention of Iraq, even though there was little proof of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Controversial Actions
He voiced no apologies about the armed intervention, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis died, nor about the harsh treatment of detainees rounded up after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was founded on inaccurate information repeated by Cheney, was the right course of action. "It proved to be the correct action to do back then. I believed it back then and I believe it today."
But even then, there were contrary opinions at a high level about the botched execution of Iraq. One of the administration's own delegates to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the role. "I saw, at a minimum," he later wrote "true dereliction, negligence, and irresponsibility: potentially, deception, unfitness, and corruption."
Broader Context
Cheney was not solely to blame for the Iraq invasion. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for similar measures. He had written a document outlining circumstances in which American interests might be compromised (including "availability of vital raw materials, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "the United States should be positioned to act independently when collective action cannot be orchestrated," explicitly referencing defense operations against Iraq.
Bush additionally had arrived in the Oval Office somewhat determined on executing what his father had famously refused to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. Following he had been fired by the president, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his objective of reducing America's involvement in the regional tensions and suggested armed intervention against Iraq.
Bush carried a private grievance against Saddam, thinking he had been behind a scheme to kill his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally objected to that one of the most prominent accommodations in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a portrait of his father's countenance that each person had to walk over.
Interrogation Methods
Yet it was Cheney who was among the most outspoken advocating attacking Iraq, consistently citing intelligence reports that were either weak or completely inaccurate. He supported what the Bush White House politely called as "intensive questioning", the application of waterboarding and physical pressure.
Responding to a Senate report in 2014 that found that no valuable data had been obtained through the torture, Cheney disregarded the conclusions as "riddled with crap". He informed Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to take steps and create initiatives to apprehend the perpetrators who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it was not repeated. That was specifically what they did and they deserve a lot of recognition."
Public Persona
Cheney took pleasure in labels imposed on him by critics such as the Star Wars villain and the sinister presence, and by the idea that he was a sinister influence directing Bush. In Peter Baker's 2013 publication about the duo, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is reported as stating: "Am I the evil genius in the shadows that operates invisibly emerge from his domain? That is a nice way to work, in fact."
Corporate Connections
Dispute over his corporate affiliations accompanied him throughout his time as vice-president. While he had minimal expertise in commerce but good contacts in defence, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's largest energy conglomerates, in 1995 as chair and CEO.
In 2000 he was selected as Bush's running mate for the White House. Debatably, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was awarded US deals valued at substantial sums.
It significantly boosted his finances. His yearly compensation during his period at the corporation rose from his $258,394 when he was military head to $4.4m. When he left in 2000 he had a package worth more than $20m|twenty
