The former US vice-president Dick Cheney, who died at age 84, was seen as arguably the most powerful occupants of the vice-presidency in US history. Whereas many second-in-commands had to settle for peripheral or symbolic positions, Cheney held enormous power during the term of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was frequently described as the "real president".
Bush objected to such a characterisation and said the connection was more complicated. He noted that Cheney was deferential, consistently addressing him in public as President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush disputed even portrayals of their partnership as a team because it implied that they were peers. In spite of these denials, Cheney found the easygoing president accommodating on a broad range of governmental choices.
A Aftermath of 9/11
Leading of a contingent of conservative hawks that featured military head Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in reaction to the September 11th attacks on New York and Washington. During of the 9/11 assault, Bush had been attending a gathering at a educational institution in Florida. Whereas Bush made his way to a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, directing the destruction of any unidentified planes approaching the US Capitol.
Cheney stated the attacks altered his perspective, making him become determined on retaliation. In conjunction with other neo-cons, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a takeover of Afghanistan in an attempt to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the military action of Iraq, even 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, or about the enhanced interrogation of detainees captured after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was predicated on misleading reports repeated by Cheney, was the right course of action. "It represented the right thing to do at that time. I believed it back then and I believe it presently."
But during that period, there were opposing views at a high level about the botched execution of Iraq. One of the administration's own special envoys to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the role. "I saw, at the very least," he wrote later "obvious failure, inaction, and unaccountability: in the worst case, falsehoods, unfitness, and dishonesty."
Additional Factors
Cheney was not entirely responsible for the Iraq military action. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for comparable steps. He had drafted a memorandum outlining scenarios in which US concerns might be compromised (featuring "obtaining essential resources, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "the US should be postured to operate alone when joint efforts cannot be arranged," particularly referencing defense operations against Iraq.
Bush additionally had entered the Oval Office vaguely intent on executing what his predecessor had famously refused to do in 1991; topple Saddam. Following he had been sacked by the White House, the finance chief Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had announced his intention of diminishing America's involvement in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and suggested defense operations against Iraq.
Bush held a personal grudge against Saddam, believing he had been involved in 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 most prominent establishments in Baghdad had a floor mural with a image of his predecessor's countenance that everyone had to step on.
Questioning Techniques
Yet it was Cheney who was one of the most vociferous behind invading Iraq, consistently quoting intelligence reports that were either weak or entirely inaccurate. He supported what the Bush government indirectly described as "enhanced interrogation", the employment of waterboarding and harsh treatment.
Addressing a Senate report in 2014 that determined that no useful information had been obtained through the torture, Cheney rejected the conclusions as "riddled with crap". He told Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to take steps and put in place procedures to apprehend the bastards who took the lives of 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it would not recur. That was specifically what they did and they deserve a lot of credit."
External Perception
Cheney took pleasure in monikers assigned to him by critics such as the Star Wars villain and the dark figure, and by the notion that he was a dark force directing Bush. In the author's 2013 book about the two, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is reported as stating: "Am I the evil genius in the shadows that nobody ever sees emerge from his hole? It's a advantageous way to function, truthfully."
Commercial Ties
Dispute over his commercial relationships accompanied him throughout his time as second-in-command. Although he had limited background in commerce but strong connections in defence, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's biggest energy companies, in 1995 as chair and top executive.
In 2000 he became Bush's VP candidate for the executive branch. Controversially, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was awarded US agreements worth billions.
It made him rich. His yearly compensation during his period at the corporation increased from his quarter-million dollars while Pentagon chief to millions. When he departed in 2000 he had a severance arrangement valued at in excess of $20m|twenty
