The late US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who passed away at the age of 84, was regarded as one of the most powerful occupants of that position in the nation's history. Although many VPs were confined to peripheral or symbolic functions, Cheney exercised enormous power during the administration of George W Bush, so much so that he was commonly called as the "true president".
Bush disliked this portrayal and claimed the dynamic was more complex. He noted that Cheney was deferential, consistently calling him in public as the President, while he called him as Dick. Bush challenged even descriptions of their relationship as a partnership because it indicated that they were on equal footing. Despite such protestations, Cheney viewed the relaxed president malleable on a wide array of policy decisions.
A Post-9/11 Era
At the head of a group of neo-cons that encompassed defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the invasion of Iraq in 2003 in response to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. At the time of the 9/11 strike, Bush had been taking part in a session at a elementary school in Florida. As Bush headed for a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, commanding the shooting down of any unresponsive planes approaching the government building.
Cheney claimed the strikes altered his perspective, making him become focused on retribution. Along with other neo-cons, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a occupation of Afghanistan in an endeavor to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then pressed fiercely for the invasion of Iraq, though there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Controversial Actions
He expressed no regrets about the invasion, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis perished, nor about the harsh treatment of suspects rounded up after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was predicated on faulty information circulated by Cheney, was the right decision. "It was the correct action to do at that time. I had faith at the time and I believe it presently."
Yet during that period, there were dissenting voices at a top tier about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the government's own delegates to the Middle East, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the post. "I saw, at a minimum," he later wrote "obvious failure, inaction, and unaccountability: at worst, lying, ineptitude, and corruption."
Additional Factors
Cheney was not solely responsible for the Iraq campaign. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for comparable steps. He had drafted a document outlining scenarios in which American interests might be endangered (encompassing "access to crucial commodities, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "the United States should be postured to operate alone when joint efforts prove impossible," explicitly citing defense operations against Iraq.
Bush also had entered the White House somewhat determined on executing what his predecessor had notably declined to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. Following he had been dismissed by the president, the finance chief 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 suggested defense operations against Iraq.
Bush held a individual resentment against Saddam, believing he had been responsible for a scheme to kill his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore disliked that one of the biggest hotels in Baghdad had a ground design with a portrait of his predecessor's countenance that all visitors had to walk over.
Questioning Techniques
Yet it was Cheney who was among the most vehement advocating striking Iraq, frequently citing information documents that were either weak or totally inaccurate. He supported what the Bush administration politely called as "advanced techniques", the application of waterboarding and harsh treatment.
Addressing a Senate analysis in 2014 that determined that no useful information had resulted from the torture, Cheney disregarded the report as "loaded with crap". He informed Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to take steps and create procedures to capture 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 deserve a lot of recognition."
Public Image
Cheney took pleasure in monikers assigned to him by detractors such as the dark character and The Prince of Darkness, and by the idea that he was a shadow power controlling Bush. In Peter Baker's 2013 volume about the duo, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is reported as stating: "Am I the malevolent mastermind in the corner that nobody ever sees leave his lair? That is a advantageous way to function, in fact."
Corporate Connections
Debate over his business interests accompanied him through his period as vice-president. While he had minimal expertise in business but strong connections in security, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial petroleum conglomerates, in 1995 as chair and top executive.
In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's election partner for the White House. Controversially, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was granted US deals valued at multiple billions.
It greatly increased his wealth. His yearly earnings during his period at the firm grew from his previous salary during his time as military head to over four million. When he resigned in 2000 he had a compensation package worth in excess of $20m|twenty
