The former US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who passed away at the age of 84, was considered one of the most powerful incumbents of that position in US history. While many VPs were confined to marginal or figurehead functions, Cheney exercised huge sway during the presidency of George W Bush, to the point that he was often called as the "actual president".
Bush objected to this portrayal and said the relationship was more nuanced. He observed that Cheney was respectful, invariably addressing him in public as President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush disputed even descriptions of their relationship as a collaboration because it indicated that they were on equal footing. Despite these objections, Cheney found the relaxed president pliable on a broad range of governmental choices.
The Aftermath of 9/11
Leading of a faction of conservative hawks that included Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the invasion of Iraq in 2003 in reaction to the September 11th attacks on New York and Washington. At the time of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been attending a meeting at a elementary school in Florida. As Bush headed for a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, commanding the downing of any unresponsive airplanes nearing the government building.
Cheney stated the attacks transformed him, making him become intent on retaliation. Along with other neo-conservatives, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a occupation of Afghanistan in an effort to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the military action of Iraq, though there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein having involvement.
Disputed Policies
He expressed no regrets about the military campaign, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, and not about the enhanced interrogation of suspects captured after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was based on faulty intelligence circulated by Cheney, was the correct course of action. "It proved to be the correct action to do then. I believed it back then and I maintain that stance today."
Yet during that period, there were dissenting voices at a top tier about the botched execution of Iraq. One of the government's own representatives to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the post. "I witnessed, at the very least," he wrote later "true dereliction, negligence, and irresponsibility: at worst, falsehoods, unfitness, and corruption."
Additional Factors
Cheney was not solely accountable for the Iraq military action. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for comparable steps. He had written a memo outlining scenarios in which national priorities might be endangered (featuring "availability of essential resources, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "the US should be postured to operate alone when cooperative measures prove impossible," specifically mentioning military moves against Iraq.
Bush additionally had assumed the White House generally inclined on executing what his father had notably declined to do in 1991; topple Saddam. Following he had been sacked by the White House, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had announced his objective of diminishing America's engagement in the Middle East dispute and suggested armed intervention against Iraq.
Bush bore a individual resentment against Saddam, thinking he had been responsible for a scheme to kill his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore objected to that one of the most prominent establishments in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a portrait of his parent's face that each person had to tread upon.
Questioning Techniques
However it was Cheney who was part of the most outspoken behind attacking Iraq, frequently quoting information documents that were whether insubstantial or completely inaccurate. He backed what the Bush White House euphemistically referred to as "enhanced interrogation", the employment of simulated drowning and torture.
Answering a Senate report in 2014 that found that no actionable intelligence had resulted from the interrogation methods, Cheney dismissed the findings as "full of crap". He informed Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to establish protocols and put in place programmes to catch the individuals who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it was not repeated. That's exactly what they did and they deserve a lot of recognition."
Public Image
Cheney took pleasure in monikers assigned to him by detractors such as Darth Vader and the dark figure, and by the idea that he was a sinister influence manipulating Bush. In Peter Baker's 2013 volume about the pair, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is reported as stating: "Do I represent the sinister strategist in the shadows that operates invisibly emerge from his domain? This represents a effective way to work, truthfully."
Corporate Connections
Dispute over his business interests followed him through his period as VP. While he had limited background in business but strong connections in defence, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's largest energy corporations, in 1995 as leader and top executive.
In 2000 he was selected as Bush's running mate for the White House. Controversially, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was given US contracts totaling substantial sums.
It made him rich. His yearly earnings during his time at the company grew from his quarter-million dollars while Pentagon chief to $4.4m. When he resigned in 2000 he had a severance arrangement worth over $20m|twenty
