The deceased US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who passed away at the age of 84, was considered one of the most powerful incumbents of the vice-presidency in the nation's history. While many VPs were confined to marginal or symbolic positions, Cheney exercised enormous sway during the term of George W Bush, so much so that he was commonly described as the "real president".
Bush disliked such a characterisation and said the connection was more nuanced. He observed that Cheney was courteous, invariably addressing him in public as the President, while he called him as Dick. Bush questioned even portrayals of their association as a team because it indicated that they were peers. Despite such protestations, Cheney considered the relaxed president accommodating on a broad range of policy decisions.
A Aftermath of 9/11
At the head of a group of conservative hawks that included military head Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the invasion of Iraq in 2003 in reaction to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been participating in a session at a educational institution in Florida. While Bush headed for a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, ordering the destruction of any unidentified planes approaching the government building.
Cheney said the assaults changed him, leading him to become focused on retaliation. In conjunction with other conservative figures, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a invasion of Afghanistan in an attempt to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the military action of Iraq, though there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein playing a role.
Controversial Decisions
He voiced no apologies about the armed intervention, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, or about the waterboarding of detainees rounded up after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was founded on misleading reports repeated by Cheney, was the proper decision. "It was the right thing to do back then. I was convinced back then and I hold that view today."
Yet even then, there were contrary opinions at a high level about the mishandling 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, as a baseline," he wrote later "clear negligence, carelessness, and irresponsibility: in the worst case, falsehoods, unfitness, and dishonesty."
Additional Factors
Cheney was not completely accountable for the Iraq military action. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for comparable steps. He had composed a memorandum setting out scenarios in which American interests might be threatened (encompassing "obtaining vital raw materials, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "the US should be prepared to operate alone when joint efforts cannot be orchestrated," particularly citing military moves against Iraq.
Bush too had arrived in the White House vaguely intent on implementing what his father had notably declined to do in 1991; topple Saddam. After he had been fired by the White House, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill disclosed how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had announced his intention of lowering America's engagement in the regional tensions and proposed armed intervention against Iraq.
Bush held a personal grudge against Saddam, convinced he had been behind a plot to kill his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally resented that one of the most prominent establishments in Baghdad had a ground design with a likeness of his father's visage that everyone had to tread upon.
Questioning Techniques
But it was Cheney who was part of the most vociferous behind invading Iraq, consistently quoting intelligence reports that were both weak or entirely inaccurate. He endorsed what the Bush administration indirectly described as "intensive questioning", the employment of waterboarding and harsh treatment.
Addressing a Senate analysis in 2014 that concluded that no valuable data had come from the torture, Cheney rejected the conclusions as "loaded with crap". He told Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to take steps and put in place programmes to capture the individuals who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it was not repeated. That was specifically what they did and they merit a lot of praise."
Public Persona
Cheney reveled in monikers given to him by opponents such as the Star Wars villain and the sinister presence, and by the idea that he was a sinister influence manipulating Bush. In the author's 2013 book about the duo, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is quoted as saying: "Do I represent the evil genius in the corner that nobody ever sees leave his lair? That is a advantageous way to work, in fact."
Business Interests
Dispute over his business interests accompanied him throughout his time as second-in-command. While he had limited background in commerce but strong connections in military, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's largest energy corporations, in 1995 as chairman and chief executive.
In 2000 he became Bush's running mate for the presidency. Contentiously, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was given US deals valued at billions.
It significantly boosted his finances. His yearly compensation during his time at the company rose from his $258,394 during his time as military head to $4.4m. When he departed in 2000 he had a severance arrangement worth over $20m|twenty
