The late US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who died at the age of 84, was regarded as one of the most powerful occupants of the vice-presidency in the nation's history. Although numerous vice-presidents had to settle for peripheral or figurehead functions, Cheney held substantial power during the presidency of George W Bush, so much so that he was often described as the "real president".
Bush objected to that description and stated the dynamic was more complicated. He noted that Cheney was courteous, consistently calling him in official appearances as the President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush questioned even portrayals of their relationship as a partnership because it indicated that they were equals. Despite these objections, Cheney considered the easygoing president accommodating on a whole raft of administrative determinations.
A Aftermath of 9/11
In charge of a group of conservative hawks that encompassed military head Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in reaction to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 strike, Bush had been taking part in a session at a school in Florida. Whereas Bush made his way to a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney took command, ordering the destruction of any non-communicating aircraft heading toward the government building.
Cheney said the attacks transformed him, making him become focused on retaliation. Along with other conservative figures, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a takeover of Afghanistan in an attempt to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the invasion of Iraq, even though there was little proof of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Disputed Actions
He expressed no regrets about the military campaign, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis perished, nor about the harsh treatment of suspects rounded up after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was predicated on misleading information echoed by Cheney, was the right course of action. "It represented the proper decision to do at that time. I believed it at the time and I believe it now."
But even then, there were opposing views at a top tier about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the administration's own delegates to the Middle East, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the role. "I observed, at the very least," he later wrote "clear negligence, negligence, and irresponsibility: in the worst case, deception, unfitness, and corruption."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not entirely responsible for the Iraq military action. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for comparable steps. He had composed a memorandum detailing circumstances in which American interests might be compromised (including "availability of vital raw materials, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "the United States should be postured to operate alone when cooperative measures prove impossible," particularly citing defense operations against Iraq.
Bush too had assumed the White House somewhat determined on implementing what his parent had notably declined to do in 1991; remove Saddam. Following he had been sacked by the president, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill disclosed how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his plan of lowering America's participation in the Middle East dispute and suggested armed intervention against Iraq.
Bush carried a private grievance against Saddam, thinking he had been responsible for a conspiracy to kill his father, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He also disliked that one of the most prominent accommodations in Baghdad had a floor mural with a image of his father's visage that everyone had to step on.
Investigation Approaches
But it was Cheney who was one of the most vehement advocating attacking Iraq, frequently quoting information documents that were both thin or totally misleading. He endorsed what the Bush White House politely called as "intensive questioning", the employment of simulated drowning and harsh treatment.
Answering a Senate report in 2014 that determined that no useful information had been obtained through the interrogation methods, Cheney disregarded the findings as "full of crap". He informed Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to take steps and create programmes to capture 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 earn a lot of recognition."
Public Image
Cheney reveled in nicknames assigned to him by detractors such as Darth Vader and the dark figure, and by the notion that he was a dark force directing Bush. In Peter Baker's 2013 book about the duo, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is quoted as saying: "Is it me who is the evil genius in the shadows that operates invisibly come out of his lair? This represents a advantageous way to operate, in fact."
Corporate Connections
Dispute over his business interests pursued him throughout his time as vice-president. Although he had little experience in corporate affairs but good contacts in defence, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial energy companies, in 1995 as leader and CEO.
In 2000 he was selected as Bush's running mate for the White House. Contentiously, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was awarded US agreements worth billions.
It greatly increased his wealth. His annual income during his tenure at the corporation grew from his $258,394 when he was military head to millions. When he departed in 2000 he had a compensation package totaling over $20m|twenty
