The former US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who passed away at age 84, was regarded as arguably the most powerful incumbents of that position in the nation's history. While many VPs were limited to peripheral or figurehead functions, Cheney wielded huge power during the presidency of George W Bush, to the point that he was commonly called as the "real president".
Bush resented that description and stated the relationship was more nuanced. He pointed out that Cheney was courteous, consistently referring to him in official appearances as Mr President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush questioned even portrayals of their relationship as a collaboration because it suggested that they were equals. Despite such protestations, Cheney considered the laidback president pliable on a whole raft of policy decisions.
The Aftermath of 9/11
Leading of a faction of conservative hawks that included defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. During of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been participating in a meeting at a elementary school in Florida. While Bush traveled to a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, commanding the destruction of any unresponsive planes nearing the government building.
Cheney said the assaults changed him, causing him to be focused on revenge. Together with other conservative figures, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a occupation of Afghanistan in an attempt to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the military action of Iraq, although there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein having involvement.
Controversial Decisions
He expressed no regrets about the military campaign, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, nor about the harsh treatment of suspects apprehended after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was founded on inaccurate information echoed by Cheney, was the proper decision. "It was the correct action to do then. I believed it back then and I maintain that stance today."
However even then, there were opposing views at a high level about the botched execution of Iraq. One of the government's own special envoys to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the position. "I saw, at a minimum," he wrote later "true dereliction, negligence, and unaccountability: potentially, falsehoods, incompetence, and graft."
Additional Factors
Cheney was not solely to blame for the Iraq military action. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for comparable steps. He had written a document setting out situations in which US concerns might be compromised (featuring "access to vital raw materials, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "the US should be postured to take unilateral action when joint efforts cannot be arranged," particularly referencing armed actions against Iraq.
Bush too had entered the Oval Office vaguely intent on carrying out what his predecessor had notably declined to do in 1991; remove Saddam. Subsequent to he had been dismissed by the president, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had announced his plan of diminishing America's engagement in the Middle East dispute and mooted defense operations against Iraq.
Bush held a individual resentment against Saddam, convinced he had been behind a scheme to assassinate his father, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore resented that one of the largest establishments in Baghdad had a floor mural with a portrait of his predecessor's countenance that each person had to walk over.
Interrogation Methods
Yet it was Cheney who was part of the most vehement supporting attacking Iraq, frequently referencing agency briefings that were either weak or completely deceptive. He endorsed what the Bush government indirectly described as "enhanced interrogation", the employment of waterboarding and physical pressure.
Responding to a Senate document in 2014 that determined that no useful information had come from the torture, Cheney rejected the conclusions as "full of crap". He stated to Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to establish protocols and create initiatives to capture the bastards who took the lives of 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it would not recur. That's exactly what they did and they merit a lot of praise."
Public Persona
Cheney reveled in labels given to him by critics such as the Star Wars villain and the sinister presence, and by the notion that he was a dark force controlling Bush. In Peter Baker's 2013 publication about the pair, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is reported as stating: "Is it me who is the evil genius in the corner that operates invisibly come out of his lair? That is a advantageous way to operate, actually."
Business Interests
Debate over his commercial relationships accompanied him throughout his time as vice-president. While he had little experience in corporate affairs but good contacts in security, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial oil and gas corporations, in 1995 as chairman and CEO.
In 2000 he was selected as Bush's election partner for the presidency. Contentiously, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was awarded US contracts valued at multiple billions.
It greatly increased his wealth. His yearly compensation during his period at the corporation increased from his $258,394 during his time as Pentagon chief to millions. When he left in 2000 he had a package worth over $20m|twenty
