The deceased US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who died at age 84, was regarded as among the most powerful occupants of that position in the nation's history. Although many vice-presidents had to settle for peripheral or figurehead functions, Cheney exercised substantial power during the presidency of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was commonly referred to as the "real president".
Bush resented such a characterisation and said the dynamic was more complex. He noted that Cheney was deferential, invariably addressing him in official appearances as the President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush disputed even characterisations of their partnership as a collaboration because it implied that they were on equal footing. Regardless of these denials, Cheney considered the relaxed president accommodating on a broad range of administrative determinations.
The Period Following the Attacks
Leading of a group of neo-conservatives that included military head Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the military intervention of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been attending a meeting at a school in Florida. While Bush headed for a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney took command, directing the shooting down of any unidentified airplanes heading toward the US Capitol.
Cheney stated the strikes altered his perspective, making him become intent on retribution. Together with other conservative figures, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a occupation of Afghanistan in an attempt to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then pressed fiercely for the invasion of Iraq, even though there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein having involvement.
Disputed Decisions
He expressed no regrets about the military campaign, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis perished, nor about the harsh treatment of detainees captured after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was founded on inaccurate information echoed by Cheney, was the proper path to take. "It was the correct action to do at that time. I was convinced back then and I maintain that stance now."
Yet even then, there were opposing views at a high level about the poor management of Iraq. One of the government's own representatives to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the role. "I witnessed, at a minimum," he subsequently stated "true dereliction, inaction, and recklessness: in the worst case, falsehoods, ineptitude, and dishonesty."
Additional Factors
Cheney was not completely responsible for the Iraq invasion. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for comparable steps. He had drafted a memorandum setting out scenarios in which US concerns might be compromised (featuring "obtaining crucial commodities, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "the US should be prepared to act independently when joint efforts cannot be arranged," explicitly citing defense operations against Iraq.
Bush also had arrived in the presidency vaguely intent on executing what his parent had famously refused to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. After he had been fired by the White House, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill disclosed how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his objective of reducing America's engagement in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and mooted military action against Iraq.
Bush bore a private grievance against Saddam, convinced he had been responsible for a conspiracy to murder his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He also objected to that one of the most prominent hotels in Baghdad had a floor mural with a likeness of his father's face that each person had to tread upon.
Interrogation Methods
But it was Cheney who was among the most vociferous advocating attacking Iraq, repeatedly referencing intelligence reports that were whether thin or completely misleading. He supported what the Bush administration politely called as "enhanced interrogation", the employment of simulated drowning and physical pressure.
Addressing a Senate document in 2014 that found that no useful information had been obtained through the interrogation methods, Cheney dismissed the report as "loaded with crap". He informed Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to establish protocols and create programmes to catch the individuals who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it was not repeated. That's exactly what they did and they earn a lot of credit."
Public Persona
Cheney enjoyed nicknames given to him by opponents such as Darth Vader and the sinister presence, and by the idea that he was a sinister influence controlling Bush. In the journalist's 2013 book about the two, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is cited as commenting: "Is it me who is the malevolent mastermind in the background that operates invisibly emerge from his lair? That is a nice way to function, truthfully."
Corporate Connections
Controversy over his business interests followed him through his period as vice-president. Even though he had little experience in commerce but good contacts in security, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's largest energy conglomerates, in 1995 as chairman and CEO.
In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's VP candidate for the White House. Contentiously, during the military campaign, Halliburton was awarded US contracts totaling substantial sums.
It greatly increased his wealth. His yearly earnings during his period at the corporation increased from his quarter-million dollars during his time as military head to millions. When he departed in 2000 he had a severance arrangement worth more than $20m|twenty
