The former US VP Dick Cheney, who died at the age of 84, was regarded as one of the most significant holders of that position in American history. Although countless second-in-commands were confined to marginal or figurehead functions, Cheney exercised substantial power during the term of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was often referred to as the "true president".
Bush disliked that description and said the dynamic was more complicated. He pointed out that Cheney was respectful, invariably addressing him in public as Mr President, while he called him as Dick. Bush challenged even portrayals of their relationship as a collaboration because it suggested that they were equals. Regardless of these objections, Cheney viewed the relaxed president accommodating on a broad range of governmental choices.
The Aftermath of 9/11
In charge of a faction 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 answer to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. During of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been participating in a gathering at a educational institution in Florida. As Bush headed for a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, directing the destruction of any non-communicating aircraft approaching the US Capitol.
Cheney stated the strikes altered his perspective, making him become intent on revenge. Along with other neo-cons, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a takeover of Afghanistan in an endeavor to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the military action of Iraq, even though there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Disputed Decisions
He voiced no apologies about the military campaign, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis died, or about the enhanced interrogation of suspects rounded up after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was based on inaccurate reports circulated by Cheney, was the right path to take. "It proved to be the correct action to do then. I had faith back then and I hold that view today."
However during that period, there were contrary opinions at a senior level about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the government's own representatives to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the position. "I saw, at a minimum," he later wrote "clear negligence, negligence, and unaccountability: potentially, lying, incompetence, and dishonesty."
Broader Context
Cheney was not completely to blame for the Iraq invasion. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for similar measures. He had composed a memorandum outlining situations in which US concerns might be threatened (encompassing "access to essential resources, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "the United States should be prepared to act independently when collective action cannot be orchestrated," explicitly citing armed actions against Iraq.
Bush also had assumed the presidency somewhat determined on executing what his parent had specifically avoided to do in 1991; topple Saddam. Following he had been sacked by the president, the finance chief Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the first meeting of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had announced his intention of lowering America's participation in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and mooted military action against Iraq.
Bush carried a individual resentment against Saddam, convinced he had been involved in a plot to assassinate his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore disliked that one of the most prominent hotels in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a likeness of his parent's visage that everyone had to step on.
Questioning Techniques
Yet it was Cheney who was among the most vehement advocating attacking Iraq, frequently citing agency briefings that were either weak or entirely inaccurate. He endorsed what the Bush administration politely called as "enhanced interrogation", the use of simulated drowning and physical pressure.
Addressing a Senate document in 2014 that determined that no valuable data had been obtained through the harsh techniques, Cheney rejected the report as "riddled with crap". He told Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to implement measures and establish initiatives to capture the bastards who took the lives of 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it was not repeated. That was specifically what they did and they merit a lot of praise."
Public Persona
Cheney took pleasure in nicknames assigned to him by critics such as Darth Vader and the dark figure, and by the idea that he was a shadow power controlling Bush. In Peter Baker'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 sinister strategist in the shadows that remains unseen come out of his lair? That is a effective way to operate, in fact."
Commercial Ties
Controversy over his corporate affiliations followed him during his tenure as second-in-command. Although he had minimal expertise in corporate affairs but good contacts in security, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of 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. Controversially, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was granted US agreements valued at substantial sums.
It greatly increased his wealth. His yearly compensation during his period at the company increased from his quarter-million dollars when he was defence secretary to over four million. When he departed in 2000 he had a package totaling more than $20m|twenty
