The former US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who passed away at the age of 84, was considered one of the most significant holders of that office in US history. Whereas numerous vice-presidents were confined to minor or ceremonial positions, Cheney wielded enormous influence during the presidency of George W Bush, to the point that he was often described as the "true president".
Bush resented that description and stated the connection was more nuanced. He pointed out that Cheney was courteous, invariably calling him in official appearances as Mr President, while he called him as Dick. Bush challenged even portrayals of their association as a team because it indicated that they were peers. Regardless of these objections, Cheney considered the laidback president malleable on a broad range of administrative determinations.
The Period Following the Attacks
At the head of a group of neo-conservatives that included defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in reaction to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 assault, Bush had been taking part in a meeting at a educational institution in Florida. Whereas Bush made his way to a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, commanding the shooting down of any unresponsive planes approaching the government building.
Cheney said the strikes transformed him, leading him to become determined on revenge. In conjunction with other conservative figures, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a takeover of Afghanistan in an attempt to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the military action of Iraq, although there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Disputed Policies
He expressed no regrets about the armed intervention, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis died, and not about the harsh treatment of individuals captured after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was based on inaccurate information repeated by Cheney, was the correct course of action. "It was the right thing to do at that time. I believed it then and I maintain that stance now."
Yet even at the time, there were dissenting voices at a top tier about the poor management of Iraq. One of the administration's own representatives to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the post. "I saw, as a baseline," he later wrote "true dereliction, inaction, and unaccountability: at worst, lying, unfitness, and graft."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not entirely responsible for the Iraq campaign. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for comparable steps. He had written a memo outlining circumstances in which national priorities might be endangered (featuring "access to crucial commodities, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "the US should be prepared to take unilateral action when cooperative measures cannot be orchestrated," explicitly mentioning armed actions against Iraq.
Bush additionally had entered the presidency generally inclined on carrying out what his predecessor had notably declined to do in 1991; remove Saddam. Following he had been dismissed by the White House, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill disclosed how, at the first meeting of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his intention of lowering America's engagement in the Middle East dispute and proposed defense operations against Iraq.
Bush held a personal grudge against Saddam, believing he had been involved in a plot to kill his parent, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally disliked that one of the most prominent establishments in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a portrait of his predecessor's visage that everyone had to tread upon.
Interrogation Methods
However it was Cheney who was part of the most outspoken behind striking Iraq, frequently citing information documents that were both thin or entirely deceptive. He endorsed what the Bush government politely called as "enhanced interrogation", the employment of waterboarding and torture.
Responding to a Senate analysis in 2014 that concluded that no valuable data had come from the interrogation methods, Cheney disregarded the report as "full of crap". He stated to Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to take steps and establish programmes to apprehend the perpetrators who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it was not repeated. That is precisely what they did and they earn a lot of praise."
Public Image
Cheney enjoyed monikers given to him by opponents such as the dark character and the dark figure, and by the idea that he was a sinister influence directing 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: "Do I represent the malevolent mastermind in the shadows that operates invisibly come out of his lair? That is a advantageous way to function, in fact."
Corporate Connections
Debate over his commercial relationships accompanied him during his tenure as vice-president. Although he had limited background in corporate affairs but good contacts in defence, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's biggest petroleum companies, in 1995 as chairman and chief executive.
In 2000 he was selected as Bush's running mate for the White House. Controversially, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was given US agreements valued at substantial sums.
It greatly increased his wealth. His annual income during his time at the firm rose from his previous salary during his time as defence secretary to over four million. When he left in 2000 he had a compensation package totaling over $20m|twenty
