The late US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who died at the age of 84, was seen as one of the most significant occupants of the vice-presidency in US history. While many VPs had to settle for marginal or symbolic positions, Cheney held substantial power during the term of George W Bush, to the point that he was frequently referred to as the "true president".
Bush objected to this portrayal and claimed the dynamic was more complicated. He noted that Cheney was deferential, invariably referring to him in public settings as President, while he called him as Dick. Bush disputed even descriptions of their partnership as a partnership because it indicated that they were on equal footing. Regardless of such protestations, Cheney found the relaxed president pliable on a wide array of governmental choices.
The Period Following the Attacks
At the head of a faction of neo-conservatives that encompassed defence secretary 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 assault, Bush had been participating in a meeting at a school in Florida. Whereas Bush traveled to a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, ordering the destruction of any unresponsive aircraft nearing the Capitol building.
Cheney stated the assaults changed him, leading him to become determined on revenge. Along with other conservative figures, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a invasion of Afghanistan in an attempt to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the military action of Iraq, though there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Controversial Decisions
He voiced no apologies about the military campaign, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis died, nor about the harsh treatment of individuals apprehended after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was based on inaccurate information repeated by Cheney, was the right decision. "It was the correct action to do back then. I was convinced back then and I maintain that stance presently."
But even at the time, there were opposing views at a top tier about the botched execution of Iraq. One of the administration's own delegates to the Middle East, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the post. "I saw, at a minimum," he later wrote "obvious failure, carelessness, and unaccountability: in the worst case, lying, unfitness, and corruption."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not completely responsible for the Iraq military action. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for such action. He had composed a memo detailing situations in which national priorities might be compromised (encompassing "obtaining essential resources, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "the US should be postured to take unilateral action when collective action cannot be orchestrated," explicitly mentioning military moves against Iraq.
Bush additionally had arrived in the White House generally inclined on carrying out what his father had notably declined to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. Following he had been fired by the White House, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill disclosed how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his objective of reducing America's involvement in the Middle East dispute and mooted defense operations against Iraq.
Bush bore a private grievance against Saddam, convinced he had been involved in a scheme to kill his parent, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He also objected to that one of the largest hotels in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a likeness of his predecessor's countenance that all visitors had to step on.
Investigation Approaches
But it was Cheney who was among the most vociferous advocating attacking Iraq, repeatedly quoting information documents that were both thin or completely inaccurate. He supported what the Bush government politely called as "advanced techniques", the employment of interrogation method and harsh treatment.
Responding to a Senate report in 2014 that determined that no valuable data had been obtained through the interrogation methods, Cheney dismissed the findings as "full of crap". He informed Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to implement measures and create initiatives to apprehend the individuals who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it would not recur. That's exactly what they did and they deserve a lot of credit."
Public Image
Cheney enjoyed labels given to him by critics such as the Star Wars villain and the dark figure, and by the idea that he was a dark force 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: "Am I the sinister strategist in the shadows that nobody ever sees leave his domain? It's a nice way to operate, truthfully."
Corporate Connections
Controversy over his commercial relationships followed him throughout his time as second-in-command. Even though he had little experience in business but established relationships in security, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's biggest energy companies, in 1995 as leader and top executive.
In 2000 he was selected as Bush's election partner for the executive branch. Controversially, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was awarded US agreements worth substantial sums.
It made him rich. His yearly earnings during his tenure at the firm rose from his quarter-million dollars while Pentagon chief to millions. When he left in 2000 he had a severance arrangement totaling in excess of $20m|twenty
