The late US VP Dick Cheney, who died at the age of 84, was seen as one of the most significant holders of that position in US history. Whereas numerous second-in-commands were confined to peripheral or ceremonial functions, Cheney held enormous power during the administration of George W Bush, to the point that he was frequently described as the "true president".
Bush resented that description and claimed the dynamic was more complex. He pointed out that Cheney was courteous, invariably referring to him in public as Mr President, while he called him as Dick. Bush challenged even characterisations of their partnership as a partnership because it suggested that they were equals. Despite these objections, Cheney found the relaxed president accommodating on a whole raft of governmental choices.
The Post-9/11 Era
At the head of a faction of neo-conservatives that included Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the September 11th attacks on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 assault, Bush had been taking part in a gathering at a educational institution in Florida. While Bush made his way to a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney took command, commanding the destruction of any non-communicating airplanes approaching the Capitol building.
Cheney stated the assaults altered his perspective, making him become intent on revenge. Along with other neo-cons, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a takeover of Afghanistan in an effort to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the military action of Iraq, although there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein playing a role.
Controversial Decisions
He showed no remorse about the invasion, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, and not about the harsh treatment of detainees captured after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was founded on faulty information repeated by Cheney, was the proper path to take. "It represented the right thing to do then. I believed it then and I maintain that stance presently."
Yet during that period, there were opposing views at a senior level about the botched execution of Iraq. One of the government's own special envoys to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the role. "I saw, as a baseline," he subsequently stated "obvious failure, negligence, and unaccountability: at worst, lying, ineptitude, and graft."
Broader Context
Cheney was not solely to blame for the Iraq campaign. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for such action. He had written a memo setting out situations in which national priorities might be endangered (featuring "availability of essential resources, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "America should be postured to take unilateral action when cooperative measures prove impossible," specifically mentioning military moves against Iraq.
Bush also had entered the Oval Office vaguely intent on executing what his parent had specifically avoided to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. Following he had been fired by the administration, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill disclosed how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had announced his objective of reducing America's participation in the regional tensions and proposed armed intervention against Iraq.
Bush held a private grievance against Saddam, convinced he had been responsible for a plot to kill his parent, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore resented that one of the most prominent hotels in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a likeness of his parent's countenance that all visitors had to tread upon.
Investigation Approaches
But it was Cheney who was among the most outspoken supporting invading Iraq, frequently referencing intelligence reports that were whether insubstantial or completely inaccurate. He backed what the Bush government euphemistically referred to as "enhanced interrogation", the use of waterboarding and torture.
Addressing a Senate analysis in 2014 that concluded that no actionable intelligence had come from the interrogation methods, Cheney rejected the conclusions as "riddled with crap". He stated to Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to establish protocols and establish procedures to capture the perpetrators who took the lives of 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it never happened again. That was specifically what they did and they merit a lot of praise."
Public Persona
Cheney enjoyed labels given to him by critics such as the Star Wars villain and the sinister presence, and by the notion that he was a dark force controlling Bush. In Peter Baker's 2013 volume about the two, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is quoted as saying: "Is it me who is the evil genius in the shadows that operates invisibly leave his lair? This represents a advantageous way to work, actually."
Business Interests
Controversy over his business interests followed him through his period as second-in-command. While he had minimal expertise in commerce but good contacts in military, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial oil and gas corporations, in 1995 as leader and top executive.
In 2000 he was selected as Bush's running mate for the presidency. Contentiously, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was awarded US agreements totaling billions.
It greatly increased his wealth. His annual income during his tenure at the company rose from his previous salary during his time as defence secretary to $4.4m. When he left in 2000 he had a package totaling in excess of $20m|twenty
