The former US VP Dick Cheney, who died at age 84, was considered one of the most powerful occupants of that position in US history. Although many vice-presidents were confined to marginal or figurehead roles, Cheney wielded enormous power during the term of George W Bush, to the point that he was often referred to as the "real president".
Bush disliked this portrayal and stated the connection was more complicated. He observed that Cheney was courteous, consistently calling him in public as Mr President, while he called him as Dick. Bush questioned even characterisations of their relationship as a partnership because it indicated that they were equals. Despite these objections, Cheney considered the easygoing president pliable on a wide array of governmental choices.
The Aftermath of 9/11
Leading of a group of conservative hawks that encompassed defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the military intervention of Iraq in 2003 in reaction to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 assault, Bush had been attending a session at a school in Florida. While Bush headed for a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney took command, commanding the destruction of any unresponsive planes heading toward the Capitol building.
Cheney stated the strikes changed him, making him become determined on retaliation. Together with other conservative figures, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a invasion of Afghanistan in an attempt to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the armed intervention of Iraq, though there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Debated Policies
He voiced no apologies about the military campaign, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis died, and not about the harsh treatment of detainees apprehended after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was predicated on faulty reports repeated by Cheney, was the right decision. "It represented the proper decision to do back then. I believed it at the time and I maintain that stance today."
But during that period, there were opposing views at a senior level about the botched execution of Iraq. One of the administration's own representatives to the Middle East, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the post. "I saw, at the very least," he later wrote "true dereliction, carelessness, and irresponsibility: at worst, lying, incompetence, and dishonesty."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not entirely responsible for the Iraq military action. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for similar measures. He had composed a memo outlining situations in which US concerns might be threatened (encompassing "access to crucial commodities, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "the US should be positioned to operate alone when cooperative measures cannot be orchestrated," particularly citing defense operations against Iraq.
Bush additionally had arrived in the presidency somewhat determined on carrying out what his parent had famously refused to do in 1991; topple Saddam. After he had been dismissed by the administration, the finance chief Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the first meeting of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his plan of diminishing America's involvement in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and mooted defense operations against Iraq.
Bush carried a personal grudge against Saddam, convinced he had been responsible for a plot to assassinate his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally objected to that one of the largest hotels in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a portrait of his father's face that everyone had to walk over.
Questioning Techniques
But it was Cheney who was part of the most outspoken supporting striking Iraq, frequently quoting intelligence reports that were whether weak or completely deceptive. He backed what the Bush administration indirectly described as "advanced techniques", the employment of waterboarding and torture.
Answering a Senate analysis in 2014 that found that no valuable data had resulted from the torture, Cheney disregarded the findings as "full of crap". He stated to Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to establish protocols and put in place initiatives to capture the individuals who took the lives of 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it would not recur. That's exactly what they did and they merit a lot of recognition."
Public Persona
Cheney reveled in monikers assigned to him by detractors such as the dark character and the dark figure, and by the idea that he was a sinister influence controlling Bush. In the author's 2013 volume about the duo, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is quoted as saying: "Is it me who is the evil genius in the corner that operates invisibly come out of his hole? This represents a effective way to operate, in fact."
Commercial Ties
Dispute over his business interests pursued him throughout his time as second-in-command. Even though he had minimal expertise in business but established relationships in security, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's largest energy companies, in 1995 as leader and chief executive.
In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's VP candidate for the White House. Debatably, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was given US deals valued at multiple billions.
It greatly increased his wealth. His yearly compensation during his tenure at the firm grew from his $258,394 during his time as military head to millions. When he departed in 2000 he had a compensation package worth in excess of $20m|twenty
