The former US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who died at age 84, was regarded as arguably the most powerful holders of that position in the nation's history. Although many vice-presidents had to settle for minor or ceremonial functions, Cheney exercised huge power during the presidency of George W Bush, to the point that he was often called as the "real president".
Bush disliked this portrayal and stated the connection was more complicated. He noted that Cheney was respectful, consistently referring to him in official appearances as President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush questioned even portrayals of their association as a collaboration because it suggested that they were equals. Regardless of such protestations, Cheney considered the easygoing president accommodating on a whole raft of administrative determinations.
The Aftermath of 9/11
At the head of a contingent of neo-cons that encompassed defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the military intervention of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. At the time of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been participating in a session at a elementary school in Florida. While Bush headed for a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney took command, directing the downing of any unidentified airplanes nearing the US Capitol.
Cheney said the attacks altered his perspective, making him become determined on retaliation. Along with other neo-conservatives, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a occupation of Afghanistan in an endeavor to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the military action of Iraq, though there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein having involvement.
Debated Policies
He voiced no apologies about the invasion, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis perished, and not about the waterboarding of suspects captured after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was founded on inaccurate intelligence repeated by Cheney, was the right decision. "It represented the right thing to do back then. I believed it at the time and I maintain that stance now."
Yet even then, there were contrary opinions at a senior level about the botched execution of Iraq. One of the White House's own representatives to the Middle East, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the position. "I witnessed, at the very least," he later wrote "clear negligence, negligence, and irresponsibility: in the worst case, lying, incompetence, and graft."
Additional Factors
Cheney was not entirely responsible for the Iraq campaign. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for comparable steps. He had drafted a memo detailing circumstances in which American interests might be threatened (including "access to crucial commodities, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "the United States should be postured to take unilateral action when cooperative measures prove impossible," particularly mentioning military moves against Iraq.
Bush too had arrived in the presidency vaguely intent on executing what his parent had famously refused to do in 1991; topple Saddam. After he had been fired by the White House, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the first meeting of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his objective of lowering America's involvement in the Middle East dispute and proposed armed intervention against Iraq.
Bush held a personal grudge against Saddam, thinking he had been behind a conspiracy to assassinate his parent, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He also resented that one of the largest accommodations in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a likeness of his parent's visage that each person had to tread upon.
Questioning Techniques
But it was Cheney who was one of the most vociferous supporting attacking Iraq, frequently quoting information documents that were whether insubstantial or entirely misleading. He supported what the Bush White House euphemistically referred to as "intensive questioning", the use of interrogation method and physical pressure.
Addressing a Senate analysis in 2014 that found that no valuable data had been obtained through the harsh techniques, Cheney disregarded the conclusions as "full of crap". He informed Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to take steps and create procedures to capture the bastards who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it was not repeated. That was specifically what they did and they merit a lot of credit."
Public Persona
Cheney enjoyed labels given to him by opponents such as the dark character and the dark figure, and by the concept that he was a sinister influence controlling Bush. In the author's 2013 publication about the two, 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 work, truthfully."
Commercial Ties
Debate over his business interests pursued him through his period as vice-president. Even though he had limited background in commerce but good contacts in military, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's biggest petroleum corporations, in 1995 as leader and top executive.
In 2000 he was selected as Bush's election partner for the White House. Controversially, during the military campaign, Halliburton was granted US deals valued at multiple billions.
It significantly boosted his finances. His yearly compensation during his tenure at the corporation grew from his quarter-million dollars during his time as military head to $4.4m. When he left in 2000 he had a package worth over $20m|twenty
