The former US vice-president Dick Cheney, who passed away at the age of 84, was seen as among the most powerful incumbents of that position in the nation's history. While numerous second-in-commands were limited to minor or ceremonial roles, Cheney held huge influence during the term of George W Bush, to the point that he was frequently described as the "real president".
Bush disliked this portrayal and stated the relationship was more complex. He noted that Cheney was respectful, consistently calling him in public as President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush questioned even descriptions of their association as a collaboration because it suggested that they were equals. Despite these denials, Cheney considered the easygoing president accommodating on a wide array of governmental choices.
The Aftermath of 9/11
At the head of a faction of neo-cons that featured defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in reaction to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. During of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been participating in a meeting at a school in Florida. Whereas Bush traveled to a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, commanding the destruction of any unidentified planes nearing the US Capitol.
Cheney stated the assaults altered his perspective, making him become intent on retribution. Together with other neo-conservatives, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a occupation of Afghanistan in an effort to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the military action of Iraq, although there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein playing a role.
Debated Decisions
He voiced no apologies about the invasion, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis perished, or about the harsh treatment of individuals apprehended after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was predicated on faulty reports repeated by Cheney, was the right course of action. "It was the proper decision to do then. I had faith then and I believe it presently."
But during that period, there were opposing views at a top tier about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the government's own special envoys to the Middle East, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the position. "I saw, at the very least," he later wrote "obvious failure, carelessness, and recklessness: at worst, deception, unfitness, and graft."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not entirely responsible for the Iraq invasion. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for comparable steps. He had composed a document setting out scenarios in which American interests might be endangered (featuring "availability of crucial commodities, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "the US should be positioned to act independently when cooperative measures cannot be orchestrated," specifically referencing military moves against Iraq.
Bush also had entered the Oval Office vaguely intent on executing what his parent had famously refused to do in 1991; remove Saddam. Following he had been fired by the administration, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his intention of diminishing America's engagement in the regional tensions and suggested defense operations against Iraq.
Bush carried a personal grudge against Saddam, convinced he had been responsible for a plot to murder his father, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He also resented that one of the largest establishments in Baghdad had a ground design with a portrait of his father's face that all visitors had to step on.
Interrogation Methods
But it was Cheney who was among the most outspoken behind striking Iraq, frequently citing information documents that were both thin or completely inaccurate. He endorsed what the Bush White House politely called as "enhanced interrogation", the use of simulated drowning and physical pressure.
Addressing a Senate analysis in 2014 that found that no valuable data had come from the torture, Cheney rejected the report as "full of crap". He stated to Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to implement measures and establish procedures to apprehend the perpetrators who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it was not repeated. That was specifically what they did and they earn a lot of credit."
Public Persona
Cheney enjoyed labels imposed on him by opponents such as the Star Wars villain and The Prince of Darkness, and by the concept that he was a sinister influence controlling Bush. In the author's 2013 book about the duo, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is reported as stating: "Do I represent the sinister strategist in the shadows that nobody ever sees leave his hole? That is a advantageous way to function, actually."
Commercial Ties
Debate over his business interests pursued him during his tenure as vice-president. Although he had minimal expertise in commerce but established relationships in military, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial oil and gas conglomerates, in 1995 as chair and chief executive.
In 2000 he was selected as Bush's VP candidate for the presidency. Controversially, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was granted US deals totaling billions.
It made him rich. His yearly compensation during his time at the corporation grew from his $258,394 during his time as defence secretary to millions. When he resigned in 2000 he had a compensation package worth over $20m|twenty
