The former US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who passed away at the age of 84, was regarded as arguably the most powerful occupants of that office in the nation's history. Whereas countless VPs were limited to minor or ceremonial roles, Cheney held enormous sway during the presidency of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was frequently called as the "real president".
Bush objected to such a characterisation and claimed the relationship was more nuanced. He pointed out that Cheney was respectful, invariably calling him in official appearances as President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush questioned even descriptions of their relationship as a team because it indicated that they were peers. Regardless of these denials, Cheney viewed the relaxed president pliable on a broad range of governmental choices.
A Period Following the Attacks
At the head of a faction of conservative hawks that included defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the invasion of Iraq in 2003 in response to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. During of the 9/11 strike, Bush had been attending a gathering at a elementary school in Florida. Whereas Bush made his way to a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, ordering the destruction of any unidentified airplanes approaching the government building.
Cheney said the attacks altered his perspective, making him become intent on retaliation. In conjunction with other conservative figures, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a takeover of Afghanistan in an effort to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the armed intervention of Iraq, even though there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Controversial Policies
He showed no remorse about the armed intervention, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, nor about the harsh treatment of detainees apprehended after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was based on misleading intelligence circulated by Cheney, was the correct decision. "It represented the proper decision to do back then. I was convinced back then and I believe it today."
However during that period, there were opposing views at a high level about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the administration's own representatives to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the position. "I witnessed, at the very least," he subsequently stated "obvious failure, negligence, and unaccountability: potentially, lying, unfitness, and corruption."
Broader Context
Cheney was not completely responsible for the Iraq military action. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for similar measures. He had composed a memo setting out scenarios in which US concerns might be compromised (featuring "access to essential resources, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "the United States should be positioned to take unilateral action when joint efforts cannot be orchestrated," specifically citing military moves against Iraq.
Bush too had arrived in the White House vaguely intent on executing what his predecessor had specifically avoided to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. Subsequent to he had been sacked by the administration, the finance chief Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his plan of diminishing America's participation in the Middle East dispute and suggested armed intervention against Iraq.
Bush carried a individual resentment against Saddam, thinking he had been involved in a plot to murder his parent, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore resented that one of the biggest establishments in Baghdad had a ground design with a portrait of his parent's face that each person had to tread upon.
Questioning Techniques
But it was Cheney who was one of the most outspoken supporting invading Iraq, repeatedly quoting agency briefings that were either weak or entirely deceptive. He endorsed what the Bush administration indirectly described as "advanced techniques", the use of interrogation method and torture.
Answering a Senate analysis in 2014 that found that no valuable data had resulted from the interrogation methods, Cheney dismissed the report as "loaded with crap". He told Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to take steps and put in place programmes to apprehend the individuals who took the lives of 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it was not repeated. That's exactly what they did and they earn a lot of credit."
External Perception
Cheney took pleasure in nicknames imposed on him by opponents such as the Star Wars villain and the sinister presence, and by the concept that he was a sinister influence manipulating Bush. In Peter Baker's 2013 volume about the pair, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is reported as stating: "Am I the malevolent mastermind in the shadows that remains unseen emerge from his lair? It's a advantageous way to work, truthfully."
Business Interests
Debate over his corporate affiliations accompanied him during his tenure as vice-president. Although he had little experience in commerce but established relationships in security, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial oil and gas corporations, in 1995 as chair and chief executive.
In 2000 he was selected as Bush's election partner for the presidency. Debatably, during the military campaign, Halliburton was granted US agreements worth billions.
It greatly increased his wealth. His annual income during his time at the firm grew from his $258,394 while Pentagon chief to millions. When he left in 2000 he had a package valued at in excess of $20m|twenty
