The late US VP Dick Cheney, who passed away at age 84, was seen as among the most powerful occupants of that position in the nation's history. Whereas many second-in-commands were confined to marginal or ceremonial roles, Cheney exercised substantial power during the administration of George W Bush, so much so that he was often called as the "true president".
Bush disliked that description and claimed the relationship was more complicated. He pointed out that Cheney was respectful, invariably addressing him in public settings as Mr President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush challenged even characterisations of their relationship as a partnership because it implied that they were peers. Regardless of these denials, Cheney viewed the laidback president malleable on a broad range of governmental choices.
The Post-9/11 Era
Leading of a group of conservative hawks that included defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the invasion of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. At the time of the 9/11 strike, Bush had been participating in a gathering at a school in Florida. Whereas Bush headed for a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, directing the shooting down of any unidentified planes nearing the US Capitol.
Cheney said the strikes transformed him, causing him to be determined on revenge. In conjunction with other neo-cons, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a occupation of Afghanistan in an effort to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the military action of Iraq, though there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein playing a role.
Disputed Policies
He voiced no apologies about the armed intervention, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis perished, and not about the harsh treatment of detainees captured after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was founded on inaccurate information repeated by Cheney, was the correct path to take. "It represented the correct action to do back then. I believed it then and I believe it today."
However even at the time, there were opposing views at a high level about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the administration's own delegates to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the position. "I saw, at the very least," he later wrote "clear negligence, carelessness, and recklessness: in the worst case, deception, ineptitude, and corruption."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not solely accountable for the Iraq military action. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for such action. He had drafted a memorandum detailing circumstances in which American interests might be compromised (including "availability of crucial commodities, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "the United States should be postured to operate alone when cooperative measures cannot be orchestrated," particularly mentioning military moves against Iraq.
Bush also had entered the White House generally inclined on executing what his predecessor had specifically avoided to do in 1991; topple Saddam. Subsequent to he had been fired by the White House, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the first meeting of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his objective of lowering America's engagement in the Middle East dispute and suggested armed intervention against Iraq.
Bush carried a individual resentment against Saddam, convinced he had been involved in a plot to kill his parent, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore objected to that one of the most prominent hotels in Baghdad had a floor mural with a likeness of his parent's visage that each person had to step on.
Interrogation Methods
Yet it was Cheney who was among the most vehement behind attacking Iraq, frequently quoting information documents that were whether thin or totally inaccurate. He supported what the Bush administration politely called as "enhanced interrogation", the application of interrogation method and physical pressure.
Responding to a Senate report in 2014 that determined that no actionable intelligence had come from the interrogation methods, Cheney dismissed the report as "loaded with crap". He stated to Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to establish protocols and create programmes to apprehend the individuals who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it never happened again. That was specifically what they did and they deserve a lot of praise."
Public Image
Cheney reveled in nicknames imposed on him by detractors such as Darth Vader and The Prince of Darkness, and by the concept that he was a sinister influence manipulating Bush. In the author's 2013 volume about the duo, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is cited as commenting: "Am I the malevolent mastermind in the corner that operates invisibly come out of his domain? This represents a effective way to operate, in fact."
Business Interests
Controversy over his corporate affiliations pursued him throughout his time as second-in-command. Although he had little experience in business but strong connections in military, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial petroleum corporations, in 1995 as leader and chief executive.
In 2000 he became Bush's VP candidate for the executive branch. Contentiously, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was awarded US agreements totaling multiple billions.
It made him rich. His yearly compensation during his time at the company increased from his $258,394 during his time as military head to over four million. When he left in 2000 he had a compensation package worth in excess of $20m|twenty
