The deceased US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who passed away at age 84, was regarded as arguably the most powerful holders of the vice-presidency in the nation's history. Whereas numerous vice-presidents were limited to marginal or symbolic roles, Cheney exercised substantial sway during the term of George W Bush, to the point that he was often called as the "actual president".
Bush disliked that description and said the connection was more complex. He observed that Cheney was courteous, always calling him in public settings as the President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush questioned even characterisations of their partnership as a team because it implied that they were equals. Despite such protestations, Cheney considered the easygoing president pliable on a broad range of governmental choices.
A Aftermath of 9/11
In charge of a group of conservative hawks that featured military head Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the invasion of Iraq in 2003 in reaction to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 assault, Bush had been taking part in a meeting at a school in Florida. Whereas Bush made his way to a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney took command, directing the downing of any unidentified planes nearing the Capitol building.
Cheney claimed the attacks altered his perspective, making him become determined on retaliation. Along with other neo-conservatives, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a takeover of Afghanistan in an attempt to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the invasion of Iraq, although there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein having involvement.
Disputed Actions
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 individuals apprehended after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was predicated on misleading intelligence repeated by Cheney, was the proper path to take. "It proved to be the proper decision to do back then. I had faith back then and I hold that view today."
However even at the time, there were opposing views at a senior level about the botched execution of Iraq. One of the administration's own special envoys to the Middle East, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the role. "I witnessed, as a baseline," he subsequently stated "true dereliction, negligence, and irresponsibility: in the worst case, falsehoods, unfitness, and graft."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not entirely accountable for the Iraq campaign. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for comparable steps. He had composed a memo setting out situations in which American interests might be compromised (including "access to crucial commodities, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "the United States should be positioned to act independently when cooperative measures cannot be arranged," explicitly referencing armed actions against Iraq.
Bush also had assumed the White House generally inclined on carrying out what his predecessor had notably declined to do in 1991; topple Saddam. Following he had been dismissed by the administration, the finance chief Paul O'Neill disclosed how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his objective of reducing America's involvement in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and proposed defense operations against Iraq.
Bush bore a personal grudge against Saddam, believing he had been behind a scheme to kill his parent, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He also objected to that one of the biggest accommodations in Baghdad had a ground design with a image of his predecessor's countenance that each person had to step on.
Questioning Techniques
Yet it was Cheney who was part of the most vehement advocating invading Iraq, consistently citing information documents that were either thin or completely inaccurate. He supported what the Bush White House politely called as "advanced techniques", the use of simulated drowning and harsh treatment.
Answering a Senate report in 2014 that determined that no useful information had been obtained through the torture, Cheney dismissed the findings as "full of crap". He stated to Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to establish protocols and establish procedures to apprehend the individuals who took the lives of 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it would not recur. That was specifically what they did and they merit a lot of credit."
Public Image
Cheney enjoyed monikers given to him by critics such as the dark character and the dark figure, and by the notion that he was a dark force controlling 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: "Do I represent the malevolent mastermind in the background that nobody ever sees come out of his lair? This represents a nice way to function, actually."
Corporate Connections
Dispute over his business interests followed him through his period as VP. While he had minimal expertise in business but strong connections in defence, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's biggest energy companies, in 1995 as leader and CEO.
In 2000 he was selected as Bush's VP candidate for the presidency. Controversially, during the military campaign, Halliburton was given US contracts valued at billions.
It significantly boosted his finances. His yearly compensation during his tenure at the corporation grew from his $258,394 when he was Pentagon chief to over four million. When he departed in 2000 he had a severance arrangement valued at over $20m|twenty
