The former US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who passed away at age 84, was seen as among the most significant holders of that office in American history. Whereas numerous VPs were limited to minor or symbolic functions, Cheney exercised substantial power during the presidency of George W Bush, so much so that he was frequently described as the "true president".
Bush resented this portrayal and said the dynamic was more complicated. He pointed out that Cheney was deferential, always referring to him in official appearances as President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush questioned even portrayals of their relationship as a team because it suggested that they were on equal footing. In spite of such protestations, Cheney viewed the easygoing president accommodating on a wide array of policy decisions.
The Post-9/11 Era
In charge of a contingent of neo-conservatives that included Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in response to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 strike, Bush had been attending a meeting at a elementary school in Florida. While Bush made his way to a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, directing the destruction of any unresponsive aircraft nearing the government building.
Cheney stated the assaults transformed him, causing him to be focused on revenge. Together with other neo-cons, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a invasion of Afghanistan in an endeavor to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the invasion of Iraq, though there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein playing a role.
Disputed Actions
He expressed no regrets about the military campaign, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis died, nor about the harsh treatment of detainees apprehended after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was based on faulty intelligence echoed by Cheney, was the proper course of action. "It proved to be the right thing to do at that time. I believed it then and I maintain that stance now."
However even then, there were dissenting voices at a senior level about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the White House's own special envoys to the Middle East, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the post. "I witnessed, at a minimum," he subsequently stated "obvious failure, inaction, and unaccountability: potentially, falsehoods, incompetence, and graft."
Broader Context
Cheney was not completely to blame for the Iraq campaign. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for comparable steps. He had composed a memorandum detailing circumstances in which national priorities might be compromised (including "obtaining crucial commodities, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "America should be positioned to operate alone when joint efforts prove impossible," particularly mentioning armed actions against Iraq.
Bush additionally had entered the presidency vaguely intent on implementing what his parent had specifically avoided to do in 1991; remove Saddam. Following he had been sacked by the president, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill disclosed how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had announced his plan of lowering America's involvement in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and mooted armed intervention against Iraq.
Bush held a individual resentment against Saddam, thinking he had been responsible for a scheme to kill his predecessor, 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 parent's face that each person had to walk over.
Interrogation Methods
But it was Cheney who was one of the most outspoken supporting attacking Iraq, frequently quoting agency briefings that were whether thin or completely misleading. He endorsed what the Bush administration politely called as "advanced techniques", the application of interrogation method and physical pressure.
Answering a Senate report in 2014 that found that no actionable intelligence had been obtained through the interrogation methods, Cheney rejected the conclusions as "loaded with crap". He stated to Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to take steps and establish programmes to apprehend the perpetrators who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it never happened again. That is precisely what they did and they merit a lot of praise."
Public Image
Cheney enjoyed labels assigned to him by detractors such as the dark character and The Prince of Darkness, and by the notion that he was a sinister influence controlling Bush. In Peter Baker's 2013 book about the two, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is reported as stating: "Am I the evil genius in the shadows that operates invisibly come out of his domain? This represents a nice way to operate, in fact."
Business Interests
Dispute over his business interests followed him throughout his time as second-in-command. Even though he had minimal expertise in corporate affairs but established relationships in security, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's largest oil and gas companies, in 1995 as chair and chief executive.
In 2000 he became Bush's VP candidate for the White House. Contentiously, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was granted US deals valued at multiple billions.
It significantly boosted his finances. His yearly compensation during his time at the corporation increased from his $258,394 when he was military head to millions. When he resigned in 2000 he had a severance arrangement totaling more than $20m|twenty