The former US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who passed away at the age of 84, was seen as arguably the most influential holders of the vice-presidency in US history. While countless vice-presidents were confined to marginal or ceremonial positions, Cheney exercised enormous power during the administration of George W Bush, to the point that he was frequently referred to as the "real president".
Bush disliked this portrayal and claimed the relationship was more complex. He pointed out that Cheney was courteous, invariably calling him in public settings as President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush challenged even characterisations of their partnership as a partnership because it suggested that they were peers. In spite of these objections, Cheney viewed the relaxed president pliable on a broad range of governmental choices.
The Period Following the Attacks
In charge of a faction of conservative hawks that included military head Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in reaction to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. During of the 9/11 assault, Bush had been taking part in a meeting at a educational institution in Florida. Whereas Bush made his way to a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, commanding the shooting down of any unidentified aircraft heading toward the Capitol building.
Cheney claimed the assaults transformed him, making him become intent on retribution. Along with other conservative figures, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a takeover of Afghanistan in an endeavor to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the invasion of Iraq, even though there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein playing a role.
Disputed Actions
He voiced no apologies about the armed intervention, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis perished, nor about the enhanced interrogation of suspects apprehended after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was based on inaccurate reports echoed by Cheney, was the correct course of action. "It represented the correct action to do back then. I was convinced then and I hold that view now."
But even at the time, there were dissenting voices at a high level about the botched execution of Iraq. One of the White House's own delegates to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the post. "I witnessed, as a baseline," he later wrote "obvious failure, carelessness, and unaccountability: potentially, lying, ineptitude, and dishonesty."
Additional Factors
Cheney was not solely accountable for the Iraq military action. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for such action. He had composed a document setting out circumstances in which US concerns might be endangered (encompassing "obtaining crucial commodities, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "the United States should be positioned to take unilateral action when joint efforts prove impossible," explicitly referencing defense operations against Iraq.
Bush additionally had entered the presidency vaguely intent on executing what his predecessor had specifically avoided to do in 1991; topple Saddam. Subsequent to he had been sacked by the president, the finance chief Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the first meeting of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had announced his objective of lowering America's engagement in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and suggested defense operations against Iraq.
Bush held a individual resentment against Saddam, believing he had been behind a plot to assassinate his father, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He also objected to that one of the most prominent hotels in Baghdad had a floor mural with a image of his parent's countenance that all visitors had to step on.
Interrogation Methods
However it was Cheney who was among the most vociferous behind striking Iraq, repeatedly referencing intelligence reports that were either weak or completely inaccurate. He supported what the Bush administration indirectly described as "enhanced interrogation", the employment of interrogation method and physical pressure.
Addressing a Senate analysis in 2014 that determined that no valuable data had come from the torture, Cheney disregarded the conclusions as "riddled with crap". He informed Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to establish protocols and put in place procedures to catch the bastards who took the lives of 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it never happened again. 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 the dark character and the sinister presence, and by the notion that he was a dark force directing Bush. In the journalist's 2013 volume about the duo, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is quoted as saying: "Am I the evil genius in the background that remains unseen come out of his hole? That is a nice way to work, actually."
Corporate Connections
Controversy over his business interests followed him throughout his time as vice-president. Although he had little experience in commerce but good contacts in security, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial oil and gas conglomerates, in 1995 as chairman and chief executive.
In 2000 he was selected as Bush's VP candidate for the White House. Contentiously, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was granted US agreements valued at multiple billions.
It greatly increased his wealth. His yearly earnings during his period at the firm grew from his $258,394 while defence secretary to millions. When he resigned in 2000 he had a severance arrangement worth over $20m|twenty
