The late US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who passed away at the age of 84, was considered one of the most significant holders of the vice-presidency in American history. Whereas countless VPs had to settle for minor or ceremonial functions, Cheney held enormous power during the term of George W Bush, so much so that he was frequently called as the "actual president".
Bush resented this portrayal and said the relationship was more complex. He pointed out that Cheney was respectful, consistently addressing him in official appearances as Mr President, while he called him as Dick. Bush questioned even portrayals of their relationship as a collaboration because it indicated that they were peers. Despite these denials, Cheney considered the relaxed president pliable on a whole raft of administrative determinations.
The Post-9/11 Era
In charge of a faction of neo-conservatives that featured defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the invasion of Iraq in 2003 in reaction to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been participating in a session at a educational institution in Florida. Whereas Bush traveled to a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, ordering the downing of any non-communicating planes nearing the Capitol building.
Cheney stated the strikes transformed him, causing him to be focused on revenge. Together 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 strongly advocated for the armed intervention of Iraq, though there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein having involvement.
Disputed Policies
He showed no remorse about the armed intervention, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, nor about the enhanced interrogation of suspects rounded up after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was based on inaccurate intelligence circulated by Cheney, was the right decision. "It proved to be the proper decision to do then. I was convinced then and I hold that view presently."
However even at the time, there were opposing views at a high level about the poor management of Iraq. One of the government's own delegates to the Middle East, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the post. "I saw, as a baseline," he later wrote "true dereliction, negligence, and unaccountability: potentially, deception, ineptitude, and dishonesty."
Broader Context
Cheney was not completely to blame for the Iraq invasion. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for such action. He had composed a memo detailing situations in which national priorities might be compromised (including "access to essential resources, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "the United States should be prepared to take unilateral action when collective action prove impossible," specifically referencing armed actions against Iraq.
Bush additionally had entered the presidency somewhat determined on executing what his parent had specifically avoided to do in 1991; topple Saddam. Following he had been fired by the White House, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill disclosed how, at the first meeting of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his objective of diminishing America's engagement in the regional tensions and mooted military action against Iraq.
Bush carried 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 largest establishments in Baghdad had a floor mural with a image of his father's face that all visitors had to step on.
Investigation Approaches
But it was Cheney who was part of the most vociferous behind striking Iraq, frequently citing information documents that were both thin or entirely misleading. He endorsed what the Bush administration indirectly described as "enhanced interrogation", the employment of simulated drowning and torture.
Answering a Senate document in 2014 that concluded that no useful information had resulted from the torture, Cheney disregarded the report as "full of crap". He told Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to implement measures and put in place initiatives to apprehend the individuals who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it would not recur. That is precisely what they did and they earn a lot of praise."
External Perception
Cheney took pleasure in nicknames given to him by detractors such as Darth Vader and the dark figure, and by the idea that he was a shadow power manipulating Bush. In the author's 2013 publication about the pair, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is reported as stating: "Do I represent the evil genius in the corner that operates invisibly emerge from his lair? That is a nice way to function, in fact."
Corporate Connections
Dispute over his corporate affiliations followed him throughout his time as VP. While he had little experience in corporate affairs but established relationships in defence, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's biggest oil and gas conglomerates, in 1995 as leader and top executive.
In 2000 he was selected as Bush's VP candidate for the executive branch. Contentiously, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was awarded US agreements valued at billions.
It significantly boosted his finances. His yearly compensation during his period at the firm rose from his quarter-million dollars when he was military head to millions. When he resigned in 2000 he had a severance arrangement valued at more than $20m|twenty
