The former US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who died at the age of 84, was considered arguably the most powerful incumbents of that office in US history. Although countless VPs had to settle for minor or symbolic roles, Cheney wielded substantial power during the term of George W Bush, so much so that he was often referred to as the "true president".
Bush disliked such a characterisation and stated the relationship was more complex. He pointed out that Cheney was respectful, invariably referring to him in official appearances as President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush questioned even characterisations of their partnership as a collaboration because it indicated that they were peers. Despite these objections, Cheney viewed the relaxed president accommodating on a wide array of administrative determinations.
The Period Following the Attacks
In charge of a group of neo-conservatives that included defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the invasion of Iraq in 2003 in response to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 strike, Bush had been attending a session at a educational institution in Florida. Whereas Bush traveled to a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, ordering the downing of any unresponsive aircraft approaching the Capitol building.
Cheney said the assaults changed him, making him become intent on retaliation. Together with other conservative figures, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a takeover of Afghanistan in an attempt to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the armed intervention of Iraq, even though there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Disputed Decisions
He showed no remorse about the military campaign, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis died, nor about the harsh treatment of individuals captured after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was founded on inaccurate intelligence repeated by Cheney, was the proper path to take. "It was the right thing to do at that time. I had faith at the time and I hold that view presently."
However even at the time, there were opposing views at a top tier about the botched execution of Iraq. One of the government's own special envoys to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the role. "I observed, as a baseline," he wrote later "obvious failure, carelessness, and irresponsibility: at worst, falsehoods, unfitness, and corruption."
Broader Context
Cheney was not completely responsible for the Iraq campaign. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for similar measures. He had written a memorandum outlining scenarios in which American interests might be endangered (encompassing "obtaining vital raw materials, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "the US should be postured to take unilateral action when cooperative measures prove impossible," specifically citing armed actions against Iraq.
Bush additionally had assumed the Oval Office vaguely intent on executing what his parent had famously refused to do in 1991; remove Saddam. Following he had been dismissed by the White House, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the first meeting of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had announced his plan of lowering America's engagement in the Middle East dispute and proposed defense operations against Iraq.
Bush carried a private grievance against Saddam, thinking he had been involved in a conspiracy to kill his father, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally resented that one of the biggest accommodations in Baghdad had a ground design with a likeness of his predecessor's visage that everyone had to tread upon.
Interrogation Methods
However it was Cheney who was part of the most outspoken behind striking Iraq, repeatedly citing agency briefings that were both insubstantial or entirely deceptive. He supported what the Bush government politely called as "intensive questioning", the employment of waterboarding and physical pressure.
Responding to a Senate document in 2014 that determined that no useful information had been obtained through the interrogation methods, Cheney rejected the findings as "loaded with crap". He informed Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to establish protocols and put in place programmes to capture the perpetrators who took the lives of 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it was not repeated. That is precisely what they did and they earn a lot of credit."
External Perception
Cheney reveled in monikers given to him by opponents such as Darth Vader and the dark figure, and by the concept that he was a shadow power manipulating Bush. In the author's 2013 publication about the two, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is reported as stating: "Am I the evil genius in the background that nobody ever sees come out of his domain? This represents a effective way to operate, in fact."
Corporate Connections
Debate over his commercial relationships pursued him through his period as VP. While he had limited background in business but strong connections in defence, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial petroleum corporations, in 1995 as leader and top executive.
In 2000 he became Bush's running mate for the presidency. Contentiously, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was awarded US contracts worth multiple billions.
It made him rich. His yearly compensation during his tenure at the firm rose from his $258,394 when he was military head to millions. When he left in 2000 he had a package worth more than $20m|twenty
