The deceased US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who passed away at the age of 84, was regarded as arguably the most powerful holders of the vice-presidency in US history. While many VPs had to settle for marginal or figurehead roles, Cheney exercised huge sway during the term of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was frequently referred to as the "actual president".
Bush objected to that description and claimed the dynamic was more complicated. He observed that Cheney was courteous, invariably referring to him in official appearances as Mr President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush questioned even descriptions of their relationship as a team because it indicated that they were on equal footing. In spite of these objections, Cheney found the laidback president pliable on a wide array of governmental choices.
A Post-9/11 Era
Leading of a group of conservative hawks that featured military head Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the military intervention of Iraq in 2003 in reaction to the September 11th attacks on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 strike, Bush had been participating in a meeting at a elementary school in Florida. Whereas Bush made his way to a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney took command, ordering the destruction of any non-communicating airplanes nearing the Capitol building.
Cheney stated the assaults changed him, leading him to become determined on revenge. Together with other neo-conservatives, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a takeover of Afghanistan in an effort to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the armed intervention of Iraq, although there was little proof of Saddam Hussein having involvement.
Disputed Policies
He showed no remorse about the armed intervention, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis died, nor about the harsh treatment of individuals apprehended after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was predicated on faulty reports repeated by Cheney, was the right course of action. "It proved to be the proper decision to do then. I believed it back then and I hold that view now."
But even at the time, there were contrary opinions at a senior level about the botched execution of Iraq. One of the White House's own delegates to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the post. "I witnessed, as a baseline," he subsequently stated "true dereliction, negligence, and recklessness: at worst, lying, unfitness, and graft."
Broader Context
Cheney was not solely accountable for the Iraq military action. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for comparable steps. He had written a memo detailing circumstances in which national priorities might be threatened (featuring "access to crucial commodities, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "the US should be prepared to operate alone when cooperative measures cannot be orchestrated," particularly referencing military moves against Iraq.
Bush additionally had entered the Oval Office generally inclined on carrying out what his father had famously refused to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. After he had been dismissed by the president, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill disclosed how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his objective of diminishing America's participation in the regional tensions and suggested military action against Iraq.
Bush bore a personal grudge against Saddam, convinced he had been involved in a conspiracy to murder his parent, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally objected to that one of the largest accommodations in Baghdad had a ground design with a image of his father's visage that everyone had to tread upon.
Questioning Techniques
However it was Cheney who was one of the most outspoken supporting attacking Iraq, repeatedly referencing intelligence reports that were whether thin or totally misleading. He supported what the Bush White House politely called as "enhanced interrogation", the application of waterboarding and physical pressure.
Responding to a Senate analysis in 2014 that found that no useful information had been obtained through the torture, Cheney disregarded the report as "riddled with crap". He informed Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to establish protocols and establish procedures to catch the bastards who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it would not recur. That is precisely what they did and they earn a lot of credit."
Public Persona
Cheney reveled in labels imposed on him by detractors such as Darth Vader and the sinister presence, and by the concept that he was a shadow power controlling Bush. In the author's 2013 publication about the pair, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is reported as stating: "Am I the evil genius in the background that operates invisibly emerge from his lair? That is a advantageous way to work, in fact."
Commercial Ties
Debate over his business interests accompanied him during his tenure as vice-president. While he had limited background in commerce but good contacts in defence, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's largest petroleum corporations, in 1995 as chairman and chief executive.
In 2000 he was selected as Bush's election partner for the White House. Debatably, during the military campaign, Halliburton was awarded US agreements totaling substantial sums.
It greatly increased his wealth. His yearly compensation during his time at the company rose from his $258,394 while Pentagon chief to millions. When he left in 2000 he had a compensation package worth in excess of $20m|twenty
