The former US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who died at age 84, was regarded as arguably the most significant incumbents of the vice-presidency in the nation's history. While numerous VPs were confined to peripheral or symbolic positions, Cheney exercised substantial power during the administration of George W Bush, so much so that he was commonly described as the "true president".
Bush objected to that description and said the relationship was more nuanced. He pointed out that Cheney was courteous, always addressing him in public as Mr President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush disputed even descriptions of their partnership as a team because it suggested that they were equals. Regardless of such protestations, Cheney considered the relaxed president pliable on a wide array of governmental choices.
The Post-9/11 Era
At the head of a contingent of neo-conservatives that encompassed military head Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the invasion 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 taking part in a meeting at a elementary school in Florida. While Bush made his way to a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, ordering the downing of any unresponsive aircraft approaching the US Capitol.
Cheney claimed the assaults altered his perspective, leading him to become determined on retaliation. Along with other neo-conservatives, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a invasion of Afghanistan in an effort to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the invasion of Iraq, although there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Debated Actions
He voiced no apologies about the invasion, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis perished, and not about the harsh treatment of suspects captured after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was predicated on inaccurate information circulated by Cheney, was the correct course of action. "It proved to be the right thing to do at that time. I was convinced back then and I maintain that stance today."
However even at the time, there were contrary opinions at a top tier about the botched execution of Iraq. One of the administration's own delegates to the Middle East, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the position. "I witnessed, at a minimum," he wrote later "obvious failure, carelessness, and irresponsibility: potentially, lying, incompetence, and graft."
Broader Context
Cheney was not completely responsible for the Iraq invasion. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for comparable steps. He had written a memo outlining situations in which US concerns might be compromised (including "access to essential resources, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "the US should be positioned to take unilateral action when cooperative measures cannot be orchestrated," specifically mentioning defense operations against Iraq.
Bush also had arrived in the presidency generally inclined on executing what his father had specifically avoided to do in 1991; topple Saddam. Following he had been sacked by the president, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had announced his intention of diminishing America's involvement in the Middle East dispute and mooted defense operations against Iraq.
Bush held a individual resentment against Saddam, believing he had been behind a scheme to assassinate his parent, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally resented that one of the largest accommodations in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a image of his father's face that each person had to step on.
Investigation Approaches
However it was Cheney who was part of the most outspoken supporting striking Iraq, repeatedly citing information documents that were either weak or completely deceptive. He backed what the Bush administration politely called as "advanced techniques", the use of interrogation method and torture.
Responding to a Senate report in 2014 that concluded that no valuable data had been obtained through the harsh techniques, Cheney rejected the report as "riddled with crap". He informed Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to take steps and create initiatives to catch the individuals who took the lives of 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it never happened again. That was specifically what they did and they merit a lot of praise."
Public Image
Cheney enjoyed labels assigned to him by critics such as the dark character and The Prince of Darkness, and by the notion that he was a shadow power controlling Bush. In the journalist's 2013 volume about the duo, 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 remains unseen leave his lair? That is a effective way to work, actually."
Corporate Connections
Dispute over his corporate affiliations followed him through his period as second-in-command. Even though he had limited background in commerce but strong connections in security, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's biggest petroleum conglomerates, in 1995 as chair and chief executive.
In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's election partner for the presidency. Controversially, during the military campaign, Halliburton was given US agreements valued at billions.
It made him rich. His yearly earnings during his tenure at the firm grew from his previous salary when he was Pentagon chief to millions. When he departed in 2000 he had a severance arrangement worth more than $20m|twenty
