The deceased US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who passed away at the age of 84, was regarded as among the most powerful incumbents of the vice-presidency in the nation's history. While numerous vice-presidents were confined to marginal or ceremonial roles, Cheney held enormous sway during the presidency of George W Bush, so much so that he was commonly called as the "real president".
Bush disliked such a characterisation and stated the relationship was more complex. He pointed out that Cheney was deferential, always calling him in public settings as Mr President, while he called him as Dick. Bush disputed even portrayals of their relationship as a collaboration because it suggested that they were on equal footing. In spite of these denials, Cheney found the relaxed president accommodating on a whole raft of governmental choices.
A Post-9/11 Era
In charge of a group of neo-cons that encompassed military head Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in response to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been attending a gathering at a educational institution in Florida. As Bush made his way to a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, ordering the destruction of any non-communicating planes approaching the Capitol building.
Cheney said the assaults changed him, causing him to be focused on retribution. In conjunction with other neo-cons, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a invasion of Afghanistan in an effort to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the armed intervention of Iraq, although there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein having involvement.
Debated Actions
He showed no remorse about the military campaign, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis died, or about the waterboarding of individuals rounded up after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was predicated on misleading information repeated by Cheney, was the proper decision. "It proved to be the correct action to do back then. I believed it at the time and I hold that view now."
However even at the time, there were opposing views at a top tier about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the White House's own delegates to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the role. "I witnessed, at the very least," he wrote later "clear negligence, carelessness, and irresponsibility: in the worst case, lying, ineptitude, and corruption."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not entirely responsible for the Iraq invasion. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for similar measures. He had written a memorandum outlining scenarios in which American interests might be threatened (including "availability of vital raw materials, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "America should be positioned to act independently when joint efforts cannot be arranged," particularly citing military moves against Iraq.
Bush also had entered the Oval Office vaguely intent on carrying out what his parent had notably declined to do in 1991; topple Saddam. Following he had been dismissed by the White House, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill disclosed how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his intention of lowering America's involvement in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and proposed defense operations against Iraq.
Bush held a individual resentment against Saddam, convinced he had been involved in a scheme to assassinate his father, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He also disliked that one of the biggest establishments in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a likeness of his father's countenance that everyone had to step on.
Questioning Techniques
However it was Cheney who was one of the most vehement behind attacking Iraq, consistently referencing intelligence reports that were both insubstantial or totally inaccurate. He endorsed what the Bush White House euphemistically referred to as "enhanced interrogation", the use of interrogation method and harsh treatment.
Addressing a Senate analysis in 2014 that determined that no useful information had come from the interrogation methods, Cheney rejected the report as "loaded with crap". He informed Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to take steps and put in place procedures to catch the individuals who took the lives of 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it never happened again. That is precisely what they did and they earn a lot of praise."
Public Image
Cheney enjoyed monikers assigned to him by detractors such as the dark character and the dark figure, and by the concept that he was a dark force manipulating Bush. In Peter Baker's 2013 book about the two, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is cited as commenting: "Do I represent the malevolent mastermind in the corner that nobody ever sees come out of his hole? This represents a effective way to work, actually."
Commercial Ties
Debate over his corporate affiliations pursued him through his period as vice-president. While he had minimal expertise in business but established relationships in military, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial oil and gas companies, in 1995 as leader and CEO.
In 2000 he was selected as Bush's VP candidate for the presidency. Contentiously, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was granted US agreements valued at billions.
It greatly increased his wealth. His yearly earnings during his time at the firm grew from his quarter-million dollars while military head to over four million. When he departed in 2000 he had a severance arrangement totaling over $20m|twenty
