The deceased US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who passed away at age 84, was regarded as arguably the most powerful occupants of that position in the nation's history. While numerous vice-presidents were limited to minor or ceremonial positions, Cheney wielded huge sway during the administration of George W Bush, so much so that he was often called as the "true president".
Bush disliked such a characterisation and stated the relationship was more complicated. He noted that Cheney was respectful, invariably referring to him in official appearances as Mr President, while he called him as Dick. Bush disputed even portrayals of their partnership as a partnership because it suggested that they were peers. Despite such protestations, Cheney considered the laidback president accommodating on a whole raft of governmental choices.
The Aftermath of 9/11
At the head of a faction of conservative hawks that featured military head Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the military intervention of Iraq in 2003 in response to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 assault, Bush had been participating in a session at a educational institution in Florida. While Bush made his way to a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney took command, commanding the downing of any unidentified planes nearing the US Capitol.
Cheney stated the assaults transformed him, leading him to become determined on retribution. In conjunction with other neo-conservatives, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a invasion of Afghanistan in an endeavor to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the military action of Iraq, although there was little proof of Saddam Hussein playing a role.
Controversial Policies
He voiced no apologies about the invasion, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis perished, or about the harsh treatment of individuals rounded up after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was based on faulty information circulated by Cheney, was the proper course of action. "It was the proper decision to do back then. I believed it then and I maintain that stance now."
Yet even then, there were dissenting voices at a senior level about the botched execution of Iraq. One of the White House's own representatives to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the position. "I saw, at the very least," he later wrote "obvious failure, negligence, and recklessness: in the worst case, deception, unfitness, and graft."
Additional Factors
Cheney was not completely to blame for the Iraq invasion. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for such action. He had written a memo outlining circumstances in which American interests might be threatened (including "access to crucial commodities, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "the United States should be postured to act independently when cooperative measures cannot be orchestrated," explicitly citing military moves against Iraq.
Bush too had entered the Oval Office somewhat determined on carrying out what his parent had notably declined to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. Following he had been fired by the administration, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill disclosed how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his intention of lowering America's engagement in the regional tensions and mooted defense operations against Iraq.
Bush held a individual resentment against Saddam, believing he had been responsible for a conspiracy to kill his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He also objected to that one of the most prominent accommodations in Baghdad had a ground design with a portrait of his predecessor's face that all visitors had to walk over.
Interrogation Methods
But it was Cheney who was part of the most vociferous supporting invading Iraq, consistently quoting information documents that were both weak or totally misleading. He endorsed what the Bush government euphemistically referred to as "advanced techniques", the employment of interrogation method and torture.
Responding to a Senate analysis in 2014 that found that no actionable intelligence had resulted from the interrogation methods, Cheney rejected the report as "loaded with crap". He informed Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to implement measures and put in place initiatives to catch the individuals who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it was not repeated. That was specifically what they did and they merit a lot of praise."
External Perception
Cheney reveled in monikers imposed on him by opponents such as the Star Wars villain and the dark figure, and by the notion that he was a dark force manipulating Bush. In the author's 2013 volume 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 corner that remains unseen emerge from his lair? It's a effective way to work, truthfully."
Corporate Connections
Controversy over his corporate affiliations pursued him during his tenure as VP. While he had minimal expertise in corporate affairs but good contacts in defence, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's largest energy companies, in 1995 as chair and CEO.
In 2000 he became Bush's election partner for the presidency. Debatably, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was granted US deals totaling billions.
It greatly increased his wealth. His yearly compensation during his period at the firm rose from his $258,394 during his time as defence secretary to over four million. When he departed in 2000 he had a compensation package totaling more than $20m|twenty
