The deceased US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who passed away at age 84, was seen as among the most powerful incumbents of the vice-presidency in the nation's history. Although many vice-presidents were confined to marginal or symbolic positions, Cheney exercised enormous sway during the administration of George W Bush, so much so that he was frequently referred to as the "real president".
Bush disliked this portrayal and said the connection was more nuanced. He pointed out that Cheney was deferential, always referring to him in official appearances as Mr President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush disputed even descriptions of their relationship as a collaboration because it suggested that they were on equal footing. Despite such protestations, Cheney found the relaxed president pliable on a wide array of governmental choices.
A Period Following the Attacks
Leading of a faction of neo-cons that included Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted 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 attending a meeting at a educational institution in Florida. While Bush made his way to a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, ordering the shooting down of any unresponsive planes nearing the Capitol building.
Cheney stated the assaults transformed him, leading him to become intent on revenge. Together with other conservative figures, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a occupation of Afghanistan in an endeavor to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the invasion of Iraq, though there was little proof of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Controversial Decisions
He voiced no apologies about the military campaign, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis perished, or about the waterboarding of detainees rounded up after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was based on faulty intelligence echoed by Cheney, was the correct course of action. "It represented the right thing to do then. I was convinced at the time and I hold that view today."
But even then, there were contrary opinions at a top tier about the poor management of Iraq. One of the administration's own special envoys to the Middle East, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the post. "I saw, at a minimum," he later wrote "clear negligence, negligence, and recklessness: at worst, deception, unfitness, and graft."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not completely responsible for the Iraq military action. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for such action. He had written a memorandum setting out circumstances in which national priorities might be compromised (encompassing "obtaining crucial commodities, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "the US should be positioned to operate alone when joint efforts cannot be orchestrated," explicitly mentioning defense operations against Iraq.
Bush also had arrived in the White House somewhat determined on executing what his parent had specifically avoided to do in 1991; topple Saddam. After he had been sacked by the president, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the first meeting of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had announced his plan of reducing America's participation in the Middle East dispute and mooted armed intervention against Iraq.
Bush held a individual resentment against Saddam, believing he had been involved in a scheme to kill his parent, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He also resented that one of the most prominent accommodations in Baghdad had a ground design with a likeness of his father's countenance that each person had to step on.
Interrogation Methods
But it was Cheney who was part of the most vociferous supporting attacking Iraq, frequently quoting intelligence reports that were whether insubstantial or completely misleading. He backed what the Bush government politely called as "enhanced interrogation", the application of simulated drowning and torture.
Addressing a Senate analysis in 2014 that determined that no useful information had come from the harsh techniques, Cheney disregarded the conclusions as "full of crap". He told Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to establish protocols and create initiatives to catch the bastards who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it never happened again. That's exactly what they did and they earn a lot of praise."
Public Image
Cheney reveled in monikers given to him by opponents such as the dark character and The Prince of Darkness, and by the notion that he was a dark force manipulating Bush. In Peter Baker's 2013 volume about the duo, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is cited as commenting: "Do I represent the evil genius in the shadows that nobody ever sees emerge from his domain? It's a nice way to operate, actually."
Business Interests
Debate over his business interests followed him during his tenure as vice-president. Although he had little experience in commerce but good contacts in military, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's biggest petroleum companies, in 1995 as chairman and top executive.
In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's running mate for the White House. Contentiously, during the military campaign, Halliburton was granted US deals totaling substantial sums.
It significantly boosted his finances. His yearly earnings during his tenure at the company grew from his $258,394 during his time as Pentagon chief to $4.4m. When he left in 2000 he had a severance arrangement valued at more than $20m|twenty
