The deceased US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who died at age 84, was considered among the most powerful occupants of that position in US history. While countless vice-presidents were limited to peripheral or symbolic positions, Cheney held huge power during the term of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was frequently called as the "real president".
Bush objected to such a characterisation and stated the relationship was more complicated. He noted that Cheney was courteous, consistently calling him in public settings as President, while he called him as Dick. Bush questioned even characterisations of their relationship as a team because it implied that they were equals. Despite these denials, Cheney viewed the relaxed president accommodating on a broad range of administrative determinations.
The Aftermath of 9/11
In charge of a contingent 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 response to the September 11th attacks on New York and Washington. At the time of the 9/11 assault, Bush had been participating in a session at a elementary school in Florida. Whereas Bush traveled to a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, directing the downing of any unresponsive aircraft nearing the US Capitol.
Cheney claimed the strikes altered his perspective, causing him to be focused on retaliation. Along with other neo-cons, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a takeover of Afghanistan in an attempt to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the invasion of Iraq, even though there was little proof of Saddam Hussein having involvement.
Debated Policies
He expressed no regrets about the military campaign, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis perished, and not about the waterboarding of suspects apprehended after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was based on faulty information repeated by Cheney, was the correct decision. "It represented the proper decision to do back then. I was convinced at the time and I maintain that stance presently."
But during that period, there were opposing views at a senior level about the botched execution of Iraq. One of the administration's own representatives to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the position. "I saw, as a baseline," he later wrote "clear negligence, negligence, and unaccountability: in the worst case, falsehoods, incompetence, and corruption."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not completely responsible for the Iraq invasion. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for comparable steps. He had composed a memorandum outlining situations in which US concerns might be threatened (including "obtaining essential resources, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "the US should be postured to take unilateral action when cooperative measures cannot be arranged," particularly citing defense operations against Iraq.
Bush additionally had assumed the Oval Office somewhat determined on carrying out what his father had specifically avoided to do in 1991; remove Saddam. After he had been sacked by the White House, the finance chief Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his intention of reducing America's engagement in the regional tensions and suggested defense operations against Iraq.
Bush held a personal grudge against Saddam, thinking he had been responsible for a conspiracy to kill his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore objected to that one of the largest accommodations in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a likeness of his father's countenance that everyone had to walk over.
Questioning Techniques
But it was Cheney who was one of the most outspoken advocating invading Iraq, repeatedly citing agency briefings that were both thin or totally deceptive. He supported what the Bush government indirectly described as "enhanced interrogation", the application of simulated drowning and harsh treatment.
Responding to a Senate analysis in 2014 that determined that no valuable data had come from the torture, Cheney rejected the conclusions as "loaded with crap". He told Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to implement measures and put in place initiatives to apprehend the individuals who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it never happened again. That is precisely what they did and they earn a lot of credit."
Public Persona
Cheney enjoyed nicknames imposed on him by detractors such as Darth Vader and The Prince of Darkness, and by the concept that he was a dark force directing Bush. In Peter Baker's 2013 volume about the two, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is cited as commenting: "Am I the malevolent mastermind in the background that remains unseen leave his lair? This represents a advantageous way to function, truthfully."
Corporate Connections
Dispute over his corporate affiliations followed him through his period as second-in-command. While he had limited background in commerce but strong connections in security, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial petroleum conglomerates, in 1995 as leader and CEO.
In 2000 he was selected as Bush's running mate for the presidency. Contentiously, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was awarded US deals totaling billions.
It significantly boosted his finances. His yearly compensation during his time at the firm increased from his quarter-million dollars during his time as Pentagon chief to millions. When he departed in 2000 he had a severance arrangement totaling more than $20m|twenty
