The former US vice-president Dick Cheney, who passed away at age 84, was seen as among the most powerful incumbents of the vice-presidency in US history. While numerous second-in-commands were limited to peripheral or figurehead positions, Cheney held huge power during the administration of George W Bush, so much so that he was often called as the "real president".
Bush objected to this portrayal and stated the dynamic was more complicated. He noted that Cheney was deferential, always addressing him in public settings as the President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush disputed even descriptions of their partnership as a team because it implied that they were equals. In spite of these objections, Cheney considered the laidback president accommodating on a wide array of administrative determinations.
The Aftermath of 9/11
At the head of a group of neo-conservatives that encompassed military head Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the invasion of Iraq in 2003 in response to the September 11th attacks on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been taking part in a gathering at a educational institution in Florida. As Bush traveled to a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, directing the destruction of any unidentified aircraft approaching the US Capitol.
Cheney claimed the assaults changed him, leading him to become focused on retribution. In conjunction with other conservative figures, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a takeover of Afghanistan in an effort to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the armed intervention of Iraq, even though there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein having involvement.
Controversial Actions
He showed no remorse about the military campaign, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, and not about the waterboarding of detainees apprehended after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was founded on misleading information repeated by Cheney, was the correct course of action. "It represented the right thing to do then. I believed it back then and I believe it now."
However even then, there were contrary opinions at a top tier about the poor management of Iraq. One of the White House's own representatives to the Middle East, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the role. "I observed, as a baseline," he wrote later "obvious failure, negligence, and recklessness: potentially, falsehoods, ineptitude, and dishonesty."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not solely to blame for the Iraq invasion. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for such action. He had composed a document outlining circumstances in which national priorities might be endangered (encompassing "availability of vital raw materials, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "the US should be positioned to operate alone when collective action cannot be orchestrated," explicitly referencing defense operations against Iraq.
Bush additionally had assumed the White House vaguely intent on carrying out what his father had notably declined to do in 1991; remove Saddam. Following he had been sacked by the president, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had announced his objective of lowering America's involvement in the Middle East dispute and proposed defense operations against Iraq.
Bush carried a personal grudge against Saddam, thinking he had been responsible for a plot to assassinate his father, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He also disliked that one of the biggest establishments in Baghdad had a floor mural with a likeness of his parent's countenance that each person had to tread upon.
Questioning Techniques
Yet it was Cheney who was one of the most outspoken behind striking Iraq, frequently referencing agency briefings that were either weak or entirely deceptive. He backed what the Bush government indirectly described as "enhanced interrogation", the use of interrogation method and torture.
Addressing a Senate document in 2014 that concluded that no useful information had been obtained through the interrogation methods, Cheney dismissed the conclusions as "full of crap". He told Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to take steps and establish programmes to catch the perpetrators who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it was not repeated. That's exactly what they did and they merit a lot of recognition."
External Perception
Cheney reveled in labels imposed on him by detractors such as the Star Wars villain and the sinister presence, and by the idea that he was a shadow power controlling Bush. In the author's 2013 publication about the duo, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is reported as stating: "Is it me who is the malevolent mastermind in the background that operates invisibly come out of his lair? It's a nice way to operate, truthfully."
Commercial Ties
Dispute over his commercial relationships pursued him throughout his time as VP. While he had minimal expertise in business but strong connections in military, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's biggest energy companies, in 1995 as chair and CEO.
In 2000 he became Bush's running mate for the executive branch. Debatably, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was given US agreements worth multiple billions.
It greatly increased his wealth. His yearly compensation during his tenure at the firm increased from his $258,394 when he was military head to millions. When he departed in 2000 he had a severance arrangement totaling more than $20m|twenty
