The former US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who passed away at the age of 84, was regarded as one of the most powerful incumbents of that position in the nation's history. Whereas numerous VPs were limited to marginal or ceremonial positions, Cheney exercised huge sway during the administration of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was often called as the "real president".
Bush disliked that description and claimed the dynamic was more complex. He noted that Cheney was courteous, consistently calling him in public as the President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush disputed even portrayals of their association as a partnership because it indicated that they were peers. Despite these objections, Cheney viewed the relaxed president accommodating on a broad range of policy decisions.
A Period Following the Attacks
Leading of a group of conservative hawks that featured military head Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the September 11th attacks on New York and Washington. At the time of the 9/11 strike, Bush had been participating in a meeting at a school in Florida. Whereas Bush traveled to a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, ordering the shooting down of any unidentified airplanes heading toward the Capitol building.
Cheney stated the assaults transformed him, leading him to become intent on retribution. In conjunction with other conservative figures, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a takeover of Afghanistan in an effort to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then pressed fiercely for the invasion of Iraq, even though there was little proof of Saddam Hussein having involvement.
Debated Policies
He expressed no regrets about the armed intervention, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis perished, and not about the harsh treatment of suspects rounded up after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was founded on misleading information circulated by Cheney, was the right course of action. "It proved to be the proper decision to do back then. I had faith back then and I maintain that stance now."
Yet during that period, there were contrary opinions at a senior level about the botched execution of Iraq. One of the White House's own delegates to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the position. "I witnessed, at the very least," he subsequently stated "true dereliction, carelessness, and recklessness: in the worst case, deception, unfitness, and dishonesty."
Broader Context
Cheney was not completely to blame for the Iraq military action. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for comparable steps. He had drafted a memorandum setting out scenarios in which national priorities might be threatened (encompassing "availability of crucial commodities, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "the United States should be prepared to act independently when cooperative measures cannot be orchestrated," particularly referencing defense operations against Iraq.
Bush too had assumed the presidency somewhat determined on implementing what his parent had notably declined to do in 1991; remove Saddam. Following he had been fired by the White House, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his objective of reducing America's engagement in the regional tensions and suggested armed intervention against Iraq.
Bush held a personal grudge against Saddam, believing he had been behind a plot to kill his father, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore resented that one of the largest hotels in Baghdad had a floor mural with a image of his father's face that all visitors had to tread upon.
Investigation Approaches
However it was Cheney who was among the most vociferous behind invading Iraq, frequently quoting intelligence reports that were either thin or entirely misleading. He backed what the Bush administration politely called as "enhanced interrogation", the application of waterboarding and torture.
Responding to a Senate document in 2014 that found that no valuable data had come from the torture, Cheney dismissed the report as "riddled with crap". He stated to Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to establish protocols and establish initiatives to apprehend the perpetrators who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it was not repeated. That is precisely what they did and they merit a lot of recognition."
Public Image
Cheney reveled in labels assigned to him by critics such as the dark character and The Prince of Darkness, and by the idea that he was a shadow power manipulating Bush. In the journalist's 2013 publication about the pair, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is reported as stating: "Am I the malevolent mastermind in the corner that operates invisibly leave his hole? This represents a effective way to operate, actually."
Business Interests
Controversy over his business interests accompanied him throughout his time as vice-president. Although he had minimal expertise in business but good contacts in military, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's largest energy companies, in 1995 as leader and top executive.
In 2000 he was selected as Bush's VP candidate for the White House. Contentiously, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was given US contracts valued at substantial sums.
It significantly boosted his finances. His annual income during his period at the firm grew from his previous salary when he was military head to $4.4m. When he left in 2000 he had a compensation package valued at in excess of $20m|twenty
