The former US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who passed away at the age of 84, was seen as one of the most powerful incumbents of the vice-presidency in American history. Whereas numerous vice-presidents were confined to marginal or symbolic functions, Cheney exercised enormous power during the presidency 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 complicated. He pointed out that Cheney was courteous, consistently referring to him in public as President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush disputed even portrayals of their association as a collaboration because it implied that they were on equal footing. Regardless of such protestations, Cheney found the relaxed president accommodating on a wide array of governmental choices.
The Period Following the Attacks
Leading of a faction of neo-conservatives that included military head Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the invasion of Iraq in 2003 in reaction to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 strike, Bush had been attending a session at a school in Florida. While Bush headed for a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, commanding the downing of any non-communicating aircraft heading toward the US Capitol.
Cheney said the assaults changed him, causing him to be focused on retaliation. Together with other conservative figures, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a takeover of Afghanistan in an endeavor to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the invasion of Iraq, although there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein playing a role.
Controversial Actions
He voiced no apologies about the invasion, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis died, and not about the harsh treatment of detainees captured after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was predicated on faulty intelligence repeated by Cheney, was the right course of action. "It represented the correct action to do back then. I believed it back then and I believe it today."
But during that period, there were dissenting voices at a senior level about the botched execution of Iraq. One of the administration's own delegates to the Middle East, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the role. "I observed, at a minimum," he subsequently stated "obvious failure, inaction, and irresponsibility: potentially, lying, unfitness, and corruption."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not completely responsible for the Iraq campaign. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for similar measures. He had written a memorandum detailing scenarios in which US concerns might be compromised (encompassing "obtaining essential resources, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "the United States should be prepared to act independently when collective action cannot be orchestrated," explicitly referencing military moves against Iraq.
Bush too had entered the Oval Office generally inclined on implementing what his father had notably declined to do in 1991; topple Saddam. Subsequent to he had been dismissed by the White House, the finance chief Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had announced his intention of diminishing America's participation in the regional tensions and mooted armed intervention against Iraq.
Bush bore a individual resentment against Saddam, convinced he had been involved in a scheme to kill his parent, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally objected to that one of the biggest hotels in Baghdad had a ground design with a image of his father's countenance that everyone had to tread upon.
Investigation Approaches
However it was Cheney who was one of the most vehement supporting attacking Iraq, repeatedly citing information documents that were either thin or totally deceptive. He endorsed what the Bush government euphemistically referred to as "advanced techniques", the employment of waterboarding and physical pressure.
Addressing a Senate document in 2014 that concluded that no actionable intelligence had been obtained through the interrogation methods, Cheney rejected the findings as "full of crap". He told Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to establish protocols and establish programmes to apprehend the bastards who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it never happened again. That's exactly what they did and they deserve a lot of credit."
Public Image
Cheney enjoyed nicknames imposed on him by opponents such as the dark character and the sinister presence, and by the idea that he was a dark force directing Bush. In the author's 2013 publication about the duo, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is quoted as saying: "Do I represent the evil genius in the background that nobody ever sees leave his lair? It's a nice way to work, actually."
Business Interests
Controversy over his commercial relationships accompanied him during his tenure as second-in-command. Although he had limited background in corporate affairs but strong connections in defence, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's largest energy companies, in 1995 as chairman and top executive.
In 2000 he was selected as Bush's running mate for the executive branch. Controversially, during the military campaign, Halliburton was given US contracts valued at billions.
It significantly boosted his finances. His yearly compensation during his time at the firm rose from his previous salary when he was defence secretary to $4.4m. When he departed in 2000 he had a package totaling more than $20m|twenty
