The late US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who died at the age of 84, was seen as arguably the most powerful incumbents of the vice-presidency in the nation's history. Whereas numerous VPs were confined to minor or figurehead functions, Cheney wielded huge power during the term of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was commonly called as the "real president".
Bush objected to that description and claimed the connection was more complicated. He noted that Cheney was courteous, always referring to him in public settings as the President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush questioned even descriptions of their partnership as a collaboration because it implied that they were equals. In spite of these denials, Cheney considered the laidback president malleable on a broad range of governmental choices.
The Aftermath of 9/11
Leading of a faction of neo-conservatives that featured military head Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. At the time of the 9/11 assault, Bush had been taking part in a meeting at a educational institution in Florida. While Bush traveled to a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, directing the shooting down of any unidentified aircraft heading toward the US Capitol.
Cheney claimed the strikes transformed him, leading him to become focused on revenge. Together with other neo-conservatives, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a invasion of Afghanistan in an endeavor to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the military action of Iraq, although there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein playing a role.
Disputed Actions
He showed no remorse about the military campaign, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis perished, and not about the harsh treatment of detainees rounded up after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was based on misleading reports echoed by Cheney, was the correct course of action. "It represented the right thing to do at that time. I believed it back then and I believe it now."
Yet during that period, there were dissenting voices at a top tier about the botched execution of Iraq. One of the government's own delegates to the Middle East, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the post. "I witnessed, at a minimum," he wrote later "obvious failure, inaction, and irresponsibility: at worst, lying, incompetence, and dishonesty."
Broader Context
Cheney was not entirely responsible for the Iraq campaign. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for such action. He had written a memo setting out scenarios in which American interests might be endangered (including "obtaining vital raw materials, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "the United States should be prepared to take unilateral action when collective action cannot be orchestrated," explicitly referencing defense operations against Iraq.
Bush too had arrived in the White House generally inclined on carrying out what his predecessor had notably declined to do in 1991; topple Saddam. Following he had been fired by the administration, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill disclosed how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his objective of lowering America's participation in the Middle East dispute and suggested military action against Iraq.
Bush held a individual resentment against Saddam, thinking he had been responsible for a plot to murder his father, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally objected to that one of the biggest accommodations in Baghdad had a ground design with a portrait of his father's visage that everyone had to step on.
Interrogation Methods
But it was Cheney who was part of the most vehement advocating attacking Iraq, consistently referencing information documents that were whether weak or totally misleading. He endorsed what the Bush administration euphemistically referred to as "advanced techniques", the application of waterboarding and harsh treatment.
Addressing a Senate analysis in 2014 that found that no useful information had resulted from the interrogation methods, Cheney dismissed the findings as "loaded with crap". He stated to Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to establish protocols and put in place programmes to catch the perpetrators who took the lives of 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it never happened again. That was specifically what they did and they earn a lot of credit."
Public Image
Cheney took pleasure in monikers given to him by detractors such as the Star Wars villain and the sinister presence, and by the concept that he was a shadow power manipulating Bush. In Peter Baker's 2013 publication about the duo, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is cited as commenting: "Is it me who is the malevolent mastermind in the corner that operates invisibly come out of his domain? That is a advantageous way to function, actually."
Corporate Connections
Debate over his corporate affiliations pursued him during his tenure as vice-president. While he had little experience in commerce but good contacts in military, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's largest oil and gas conglomerates, in 1995 as leader and chief executive.
In 2000 he was selected as Bush's VP candidate for the presidency. Contentiously, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was awarded US deals worth multiple billions.
It significantly boosted his finances. His yearly compensation during his time at the corporation increased from his $258,394 during his time as Pentagon chief to over four million. When he departed in 2000 he had a package totaling more than $20m|twenty
