The former US VP Dick Cheney, who died at age 84, was regarded as arguably the most powerful occupants of that position in American history. Although numerous second-in-commands were confined to marginal or figurehead positions, Cheney exercised huge power during the term of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was often referred to as the "real president".
Bush resented this portrayal and stated the relationship was more nuanced. He pointed out that Cheney was respectful, consistently addressing him in official appearances as President, while he called him as Dick. Bush challenged even portrayals of their association as a team because it indicated that they were peers. Regardless of such protestations, Cheney found the laidback president pliable on a whole raft of administrative determinations.
The Period Following the Attacks
At the head of a group of neo-conservatives that encompassed Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the invasion of Iraq in 2003 in reaction to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. During of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been taking part in a session at a elementary school in Florida. While Bush headed for a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney took command, directing the shooting down of any unidentified aircraft approaching the Capitol building.
Cheney said the strikes changed him, leading him to become determined on retribution. Together with other neo-cons, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a takeover of Afghanistan in an endeavor to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the invasion of Iraq, though there was little proof of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Debated Actions
He voiced no apologies about the invasion, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, nor about the harsh treatment of individuals apprehended after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was predicated on misleading information repeated by Cheney, was the proper course of action. "It was the right thing to do back then. I was convinced then and I believe it presently."
But even at the time, there were opposing views at a top tier about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the administration's own representatives to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the position. "I witnessed, at a minimum," he subsequently stated "obvious failure, negligence, and unaccountability: at worst, falsehoods, incompetence, and corruption."
Broader Context
Cheney was not entirely responsible for the Iraq military action. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for such action. He had written a memorandum outlining circumstances in which American interests might be endangered (encompassing "availability of essential resources, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "the United States should be positioned to take unilateral action when cooperative measures cannot be arranged," explicitly citing military moves against Iraq.
Bush too had entered the presidency vaguely intent on executing what his predecessor had famously refused to do in 1991; remove Saddam. Subsequent to he had been fired by the president, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill disclosed how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his objective of diminishing America's engagement in the Middle East dispute and suggested armed intervention against Iraq.
Bush carried a personal grudge against Saddam, convinced he had been involved in a plot to murder his father, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore disliked that one of the biggest establishments in Baghdad had a ground design with a portrait of his father's countenance that all visitors had to walk over.
Questioning Techniques
However it was Cheney who was one of the most vociferous advocating invading Iraq, repeatedly referencing intelligence reports that were either weak or totally misleading. He supported what the Bush White House indirectly described as "enhanced interrogation", the application of simulated drowning and harsh treatment.
Answering a Senate document in 2014 that concluded that no valuable data had come from the interrogation methods, Cheney dismissed the conclusions as "loaded with crap". He informed Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to establish protocols and establish programmes to capture the perpetrators who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it never happened again. That was specifically what they did and they earn a lot of recognition."
External Perception
Cheney reveled in monikers given to him by critics such as the Star Wars villain and the sinister presence, and by the notion that he was a sinister influence manipulating Bush. In the author's 2013 publication about the duo, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is reported as stating: "Am I the malevolent mastermind in the corner that operates invisibly emerge from his hole? That is a effective way to function, actually."
Business Interests
Controversy over his corporate affiliations pursued him through his period as vice-president. Although he had limited background in corporate affairs but strong connections in military, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's biggest energy companies, in 1995 as chair and chief executive.
In 2000 he was selected as Bush's election partner for the presidency. Contentiously, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was given US agreements worth billions.
It made him rich. His yearly compensation during his tenure at the firm increased from his $258,394 during his time as defence secretary to millions. When he departed in 2000 he had a severance arrangement valued at in excess of $20m|twenty
