The deceased US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who has died at the age of 84, was regarded as one of the most powerful holders of that position in US history. Whereas many VPs were confined to marginal or figurehead positions, Cheney held enormous power during the administration of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was frequently referred to as the "true president".
Bush resented this portrayal and claimed the relationship was more complicated. He pointed out that Cheney was deferential, always calling him in public settings as Mr President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush challenged even descriptions of their partnership as a partnership because it implied that they were on equal footing. Regardless of these denials, Cheney considered the relaxed president malleable on a wide array of policy decisions.
A Period Following the Attacks
Leading of a group of neo-cons that featured defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the military intervention of Iraq in 2003 in response to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. At the time of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been attending a session at a school in Florida. Whereas Bush headed for a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney took command, commanding the destruction of any unidentified airplanes nearing the US Capitol.
Cheney stated the assaults altered his perspective, making him become determined on retribution. In conjunction with other conservative figures, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a takeover of Afghanistan in an endeavor to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the armed intervention of Iraq, although there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Debated Policies
He expressed no regrets about the armed intervention, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis perished, nor about the waterboarding of individuals rounded up after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was based on inaccurate information repeated by Cheney, was the right decision. "It was the proper decision to do then. I had faith back then and I believe it presently."
But even then, there were contrary opinions at a top tier about the poor management of Iraq. One of the White House's own delegates to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the role. "I observed, at the very least," he subsequently stated "clear negligence, inaction, and irresponsibility: potentially, deception, incompetence, and dishonesty."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not solely to blame for the Iraq military action. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for comparable steps. He had drafted a document outlining situations in which American interests might be endangered (encompassing "access to essential resources, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "the United States should be postured to operate alone when joint efforts prove impossible," particularly referencing armed actions against Iraq.
Bush additionally had entered the White House somewhat determined on carrying out what his predecessor had famously refused to do in 1991; remove Saddam. After he had been dismissed by the administration, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the first meeting of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his intention of lowering America's engagement in the Middle East dispute and mooted military action against Iraq.
Bush held a personal grudge against Saddam, convinced he had been involved in a scheme to kill his father, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore objected to that one of the biggest establishments in Baghdad had a floor mural with a likeness of his father's face that everyone had to walk over.
Investigation Approaches
But it was Cheney who was among the most vehement behind striking Iraq, repeatedly citing agency briefings that were either insubstantial or entirely inaccurate. He endorsed what the Bush government indirectly described as "enhanced interrogation", the employment of waterboarding and physical pressure.
Addressing a Senate document in 2014 that determined that no valuable data had resulted from the harsh techniques, Cheney dismissed the conclusions as "riddled with crap". He told Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to establish protocols and establish procedures to capture the individuals who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it was not repeated. That's exactly what they did and they deserve a lot of recognition."
External Perception
Cheney reveled in labels assigned to him by critics such as Darth Vader and The Prince of Darkness, and by the notion that he was a dark force controlling Bush. In the journalist's 2013 book about the duo, 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 nobody ever sees come out of his domain? That is a nice way to work, in fact."
Corporate Connections
Debate over his commercial relationships accompanied him during his tenure as vice-president. Even though he had little experience in commerce but strong connections in military, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's biggest energy corporations, in 1995 as chair and CEO.
In 2000 he became Bush's VP candidate for the executive branch. Contentiously, during the military campaign, Halliburton was given US contracts valued at substantial sums.
It made him rich. His yearly compensation during his time at the company grew from his previous salary during his time as Pentagon chief to millions. When he resigned in 2000 he had a severance arrangement totaling over $20m|twenty
