The former US vice-president Dick Cheney, who died at age 84, was considered among the most significant holders of that position in US history. Whereas numerous second-in-commands were limited to minor or figurehead functions, Cheney wielded substantial power during the presidency of George W Bush, to the point that he was often described as the "real president".
Bush objected to this portrayal and stated the dynamic was more complex. He pointed out that Cheney was courteous, always addressing him in public as Mr President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush disputed even portrayals of their association as a team because it indicated that they were peers. In spite of these denials, Cheney found the laidback president malleable on a broad range of administrative determinations.
A Period Following the Attacks
Leading of a group of neo-cons that encompassed defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the invasion of Iraq in 2003 in reaction to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been taking part in a session at a educational institution in Florida. While Bush made his way to a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, directing the shooting down of any non-communicating aircraft nearing the Capitol building.
Cheney claimed the attacks changed him, leading him to become intent on retribution. In conjunction with other neo-cons, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a occupation of Afghanistan in an endeavor to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the armed intervention of Iraq, although there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein playing a role.
Debated Actions
He voiced no apologies about the armed intervention, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, nor about the harsh treatment of detainees captured after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was founded on faulty reports repeated by Cheney, was the right path to take. "It was the proper decision to do then. I had faith at the time and I hold that view today."
But during that period, there were dissenting voices at a top tier about the poor management of Iraq. One of the government's own delegates to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the position. "I witnessed, at a minimum," he subsequently stated "clear negligence, negligence, and unaccountability: potentially, falsehoods, incompetence, and corruption."
Broader Context
Cheney was not completely responsible for the Iraq military action. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for comparable steps. He had composed a document detailing circumstances in which national priorities might be threatened (featuring "access to essential resources, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "America should be prepared to operate alone when joint efforts cannot be orchestrated," specifically mentioning military moves against Iraq.
Bush additionally had assumed the Oval Office somewhat determined on executing what his predecessor had famously refused to do in 1991; remove Saddam. After he had been fired by the president, the finance chief Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had announced his objective of reducing America's participation in the Middle East dispute and proposed armed intervention against Iraq.
Bush held a individual resentment against Saddam, thinking he had been responsible for a scheme to assassinate his father, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally objected to that one of the most prominent establishments in Baghdad had a ground design with a portrait of his father's visage that each person had to walk over.
Interrogation Methods
Yet it was Cheney who was one of the most vehement advocating attacking Iraq, consistently citing intelligence reports that were whether insubstantial or totally inaccurate. He endorsed what the Bush administration euphemistically referred to as "intensive questioning", the employment of simulated drowning and harsh treatment.
Responding to a Senate report in 2014 that concluded that no valuable data had come from the torture, Cheney rejected the conclusions as "full of crap". He told Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to establish protocols and create initiatives to catch the perpetrators who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it would not recur. That was specifically what they did and they deserve a lot of credit."
Public Image
Cheney reveled in nicknames imposed on him by detractors such as Darth Vader and the sinister presence, and by the concept that he was a dark force controlling Bush. In Peter Baker's 2013 volume about the pair, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is cited as commenting: "Do I represent the sinister strategist in the shadows that nobody ever sees leave his hole? This represents a advantageous way to function, actually."
Business Interests
Debate over his corporate affiliations accompanied him throughout his time as vice-president. Although he had minimal expertise in business but good contacts in security, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's largest oil and gas corporations, in 1995 as chair and chief executive.
In 2000 he was selected as Bush's election partner for the White House. Debatably, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was given US agreements valued at billions.
It greatly increased his wealth. His yearly earnings during his tenure at the corporation grew from his previous salary during his time as military head to $4.4m. When he departed in 2000 he had a severance arrangement worth in excess of $20m|twenty
