The late US VP Dick Cheney, who passed away at age 84, was considered one of the most powerful incumbents of that position in the nation's history. While many second-in-commands were confined to peripheral or ceremonial positions, Cheney held enormous influence during the term of George W Bush, so much so that he was commonly referred to as the "real president".
Bush resented such a characterisation and said the relationship was more complicated. He noted that Cheney was deferential, consistently referring to him in official appearances as President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush questioned even portrayals of their partnership as a partnership because it indicated that they were peers. Regardless of these objections, Cheney viewed the relaxed president accommodating on a wide array of policy decisions.
A Aftermath of 9/11
In charge of a group of conservative hawks that included defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in reaction to the September 11th attacks on New York and Washington. At the time of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been attending a gathering at a school in Florida. While Bush made his way to a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, directing the destruction of any unresponsive planes approaching the US Capitol.
Cheney claimed the assaults transformed him, leading him to become focused on retaliation. Along with other conservative figures, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a occupation of Afghanistan in an attempt to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the military action of Iraq, although there was little proof of Saddam Hussein playing a role.
Debated Decisions
He showed no remorse about the invasion, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis perished, and not about the enhanced interrogation of individuals apprehended after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was based on misleading information repeated by Cheney, was the correct course of action. "It was the proper decision to do back then. I had faith at the time and I hold that view now."
However during that period, there were contrary opinions at a top tier about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the government's own representatives to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the role. "I observed, at the very least," he subsequently stated "clear negligence, carelessness, and recklessness: in the worst case, falsehoods, incompetence, and corruption."
Broader Context
Cheney was not solely to blame for the Iraq military action. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for comparable steps. He had written a document setting out circumstances in which national priorities might be compromised (including "access to vital raw materials, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "America should be postured to take unilateral action when joint efforts cannot be arranged," specifically citing armed actions against Iraq.
Bush also had arrived in the Oval Office vaguely intent on implementing what his father had famously refused to do in 1991; remove Saddam. After he had been fired by the administration, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his intention of reducing America's engagement in the regional tensions and proposed military action against Iraq.
Bush carried a individual resentment against Saddam, thinking he had been involved in a conspiracy to murder his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally resented that one of the biggest establishments in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a portrait of his parent's countenance that each person had to tread upon.
Investigation Approaches
But it was Cheney who was part of the most vehement behind attacking Iraq, frequently quoting intelligence reports that were either thin or completely deceptive. He endorsed what the Bush administration euphemistically referred to as "advanced techniques", the application of interrogation method and physical pressure.
Responding to a Senate document in 2014 that found that no valuable data had resulted from the torture, Cheney dismissed the conclusions as "loaded with crap". He informed Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to take steps and create programmes to apprehend the individuals who took the lives of 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it was not repeated. That was specifically what they did and they merit a lot of credit."
Public Image
Cheney enjoyed nicknames assigned to him by detractors such as the Star Wars villain and the dark figure, and by the notion that he was a dark force directing Bush. In Peter Baker's 2013 book about the pair, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is reported as stating: "Is it me who is the sinister strategist in the corner that remains unseen leave his hole? That is a nice way to function, in fact."
Business Interests
Debate over his business interests followed him during his tenure as second-in-command. While he had limited background in corporate affairs but established relationships in security, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's biggest energy conglomerates, in 1995 as leader and chief executive.
In 2000 he became Bush's election partner for the executive branch. Controversially, during the military campaign, Halliburton was granted US agreements valued at multiple billions.
It significantly boosted his finances. His annual income during his period at the firm grew from his quarter-million dollars while defence secretary to over four million. When he resigned in 2000 he had a package valued at more than $20m|twenty
