The late US VP Dick Cheney, who died at the age of 84, was regarded as arguably the most significant holders of that office in the nation's history. Whereas countless second-in-commands were confined to peripheral or figurehead roles, Cheney held enormous power during the presidency of George W Bush, to the point that he was frequently referred to as the "actual president".
Bush objected to this portrayal and stated the connection was more complex. He pointed out that Cheney was deferential, always referring to him in public settings as President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush disputed even portrayals of their partnership as a team because it suggested that they were peers. Regardless of these objections, Cheney viewed the laidback president pliable on a broad range of administrative determinations.
A Period Following the Attacks
Leading of a group of conservative hawks that encompassed military head Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the military intervention 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 attending a session at a school in Florida. Whereas Bush headed for a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, commanding the destruction of any non-communicating airplanes approaching the US Capitol.
Cheney claimed the assaults transformed him, making him become intent on retaliation. Along with other conservative figures, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a invasion of Afghanistan in an effort to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then pressed fiercely for the invasion of Iraq, even though there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Controversial Actions
He expressed no regrets about the invasion, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis perished, or about the harsh treatment of individuals rounded up after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was predicated on inaccurate information repeated by Cheney, was the right decision. "It represented the proper decision to do at that time. I had faith at the time and I maintain that stance today."
However during that period, there were dissenting voices at a high level about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the White House's own representatives to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the post. "I observed, as a baseline," he wrote later "true dereliction, inaction, and unaccountability: at worst, falsehoods, incompetence, and corruption."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not solely accountable for the Iraq military action. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for similar measures. He had composed a memo detailing scenarios in which American interests might be threatened (including "availability of essential resources, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "the United States should be positioned to take unilateral action when collective action cannot be orchestrated," explicitly referencing military moves against Iraq.
Bush also had arrived in the Oval Office somewhat determined on executing what his predecessor had specifically avoided to do in 1991; remove Saddam. After he had been dismissed by the president, the finance chief Paul O'Neill disclosed how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had announced his intention of reducing America's participation in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and mooted armed intervention against Iraq.
Bush held a individual resentment against Saddam, thinking he had been involved in a scheme to murder his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally objected to that one of the biggest establishments in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a portrait of his predecessor's face that each person had to step on.
Questioning Techniques
However it was Cheney who was one of the most outspoken behind attacking Iraq, consistently quoting intelligence reports that were either weak or completely misleading. He backed what the Bush government politely called as "enhanced interrogation", the application of simulated drowning and harsh treatment.
Addressing a Senate analysis in 2014 that determined that no actionable intelligence had been obtained through the interrogation methods, Cheney disregarded the findings as "riddled with crap". He stated to Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to establish protocols and establish programmes to capture the perpetrators who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it would not recur. That is precisely what they did and they deserve a lot of praise."
Public Persona
Cheney took pleasure in monikers assigned to him by detractors such as the Star Wars villain and the dark figure, and by the notion that he was a shadow power directing Bush. In the journalist's 2013 publication 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 background that remains unseen leave his hole? That is a effective way to operate, in fact."
Commercial Ties
Controversy over his business interests accompanied him during his tenure as second-in-command. While he had minimal expertise in corporate affairs but strong connections in defence, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's biggest petroleum companies, in 1995 as leader and chief executive.
In 2000 he became Bush's election partner for the executive branch. Contentiously, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was given US contracts worth multiple billions.
It greatly increased his wealth. His yearly earnings during his tenure at the company rose from his quarter-million dollars when he was military head to millions. When he left in 2000 he had a package valued at in excess of $20m|twenty
