The deceased US vice-president Dick Cheney, who passed away at age 84, was seen as among the most powerful occupants of that position in American history. While many second-in-commands had to settle for marginal or ceremonial positions, Cheney held substantial power during the presidency of George W Bush, so much so that he was commonly called as the "real president".
Bush resented this portrayal and said the connection was more complicated. He observed that Cheney was courteous, consistently referring to him in official appearances as President, while he called him as Dick. Bush questioned even portrayals of their relationship as a collaboration because it indicated that they were on equal footing. Regardless of these objections, Cheney found the laidback president pliable on a wide array of administrative determinations.
A Period Following the Attacks
At the head of a contingent of neo-conservatives that featured Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the military intervention of Iraq in 2003 in reaction to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. At the time of the 9/11 strike, Bush had been attending a gathering at a educational institution in Florida. While Bush made his way to a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, directing the destruction of any non-communicating aircraft nearing the Capitol building.
Cheney stated the attacks transformed him, causing him to be determined on retribution. Along with other neo-cons, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a occupation of Afghanistan in an effort to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the military action of Iraq, even though there was little proof of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Controversial Decisions
He showed no remorse about the armed intervention, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis died, or about the enhanced interrogation of suspects rounded up after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was predicated on faulty intelligence echoed by Cheney, was the right path to take. "It proved to be the right thing to do back then. I believed it then and I maintain that stance presently."
However even at the time, there were opposing views at a high level about the poor management of Iraq. One of the administration's own special envoys to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the position. "I witnessed, as a baseline," he subsequently stated "true dereliction, inaction, and recklessness: potentially, lying, unfitness, and corruption."
Broader Context
Cheney was not solely to blame for the Iraq military action. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for such action. He had written a memorandum setting out circumstances in which national priorities might be compromised (encompassing "availability of essential resources, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "the US should be prepared to operate alone when collective action prove impossible," specifically mentioning armed actions against Iraq.
Bush too had assumed the presidency generally inclined on executing what his parent had famously refused to do in 1991; remove Saddam. Subsequent to he had been fired by the president, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had announced his objective of lowering America's participation in the Middle East dispute and mooted defense operations against Iraq.
Bush held a individual resentment against Saddam, thinking he had been responsible for a conspiracy to kill his parent, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He also disliked that one of the biggest accommodations in Baghdad had a ground design with a portrait of his parent's visage that all visitors had to step on.
Interrogation Methods
Yet it was Cheney who was part of the most vehement supporting attacking Iraq, repeatedly citing agency briefings that were either insubstantial or completely misleading. He endorsed what the Bush administration politely called as "intensive questioning", the application of waterboarding and physical pressure.
Answering a Senate document in 2014 that determined that no actionable intelligence had been obtained through the harsh techniques, Cheney disregarded the findings as "riddled with crap". He told Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to establish protocols and put in place programmes to apprehend the individuals who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it was not repeated. That was specifically what they did and they earn a lot of praise."
Public Persona
Cheney took pleasure in labels imposed on him by opponents such as the Star Wars villain and the sinister presence, and by the notion 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 quoted as saying: "Is it me who is the sinister strategist in the corner that nobody ever sees emerge from his hole? It's a advantageous way to function, truthfully."
Corporate Connections
Controversy over his business interests accompanied him through his period as second-in-command. Even though he had limited background in commerce but established relationships in defence, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's biggest oil and gas companies, in 1995 as chairman and CEO.
In 2000 he became Bush's running mate for the White House. Contentiously, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was granted US contracts worth billions.
It greatly increased his wealth. His annual income during his time at the corporation grew from his previous salary during his time as military head to millions. When he left in 2000 he had a severance arrangement valued at more than $20m|twenty
