The deceased US VP Dick Cheney, who died at the age of 84, was considered arguably the most significant holders of the vice-presidency in US history. Whereas many second-in-commands were limited to peripheral or ceremonial functions, Cheney wielded substantial power during the term of George W Bush, so much so that he was often called as the "real president".
Bush disliked that description and claimed the dynamic was more complex. He observed that Cheney was deferential, consistently calling him in public settings as Mr President, while he called him as Dick. Bush disputed even characterisations of their relationship as a collaboration because it suggested that they were peers. Regardless of such protestations, Cheney viewed the relaxed president pliable on a wide array of governmental choices.
A Period Following the Attacks
In charge of a contingent of neo-conservatives that encompassed Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the invasion of Iraq in 2003 in response to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. During of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been participating in a session at a educational institution in Florida. While Bush made his way to a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, directing the destruction of any unidentified planes heading toward the government building.
Cheney claimed the attacks transformed him, leading him to become focused on retaliation. Along with other conservative figures, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a takeover of Afghanistan in an effort to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the invasion of Iraq, even though there was little proof of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Disputed Actions
He expressed no regrets about the invasion, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis perished, and not about the waterboarding of individuals rounded up after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was predicated on misleading information repeated by Cheney, was the right path to take. "It represented the correct action to do then. I was convinced then and I maintain that stance now."
But during that period, there were dissenting voices at a high level about the botched execution of Iraq. One of the government's own representatives to the Middle East, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the position. "I saw, at a minimum," he wrote later "obvious failure, carelessness, and recklessness: in the worst case, falsehoods, incompetence, and dishonesty."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not completely responsible for the Iraq invasion. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for comparable steps. He had written a memo setting out situations in which US concerns might be endangered (encompassing "obtaining crucial commodities, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "America should be prepared to take unilateral action when collective action cannot be arranged," explicitly referencing defense operations against Iraq.
Bush too had entered the White House somewhat determined on executing what his parent had famously refused to do in 1991; remove Saddam. Subsequent to he had been dismissed by the administration, the finance chief Paul O'Neill disclosed how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had announced his objective of diminishing America's participation in the regional tensions and mooted armed intervention against Iraq.
Bush carried a individual resentment against Saddam, convinced he had been responsible for a plot to assassinate his father, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore resented that one of the largest hotels in Baghdad had a floor mural with a portrait of his parent's visage that all visitors had to step on.
Questioning Techniques
But it was Cheney who was among the most outspoken behind invading Iraq, repeatedly referencing information documents that were either thin or entirely misleading. He supported what the Bush government politely called as "advanced techniques", the use of simulated drowning and torture.
Answering a Senate analysis in 2014 that found that no valuable data had resulted from the torture, Cheney dismissed the conclusions as "riddled with crap". He informed Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to establish protocols and establish programmes to catch the bastards who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it never happened again. That is precisely what they did and they deserve a lot of praise."
Public Image
Cheney reveled in monikers given to him by detractors such as the dark character and The Prince of Darkness, and by the idea that he was a dark force directing Bush. In the author's 2013 publication about the pair, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is quoted as saying: "Am I the malevolent mastermind in the background that operates invisibly leave his lair? This represents a advantageous way to function, truthfully."
Corporate Connections
Debate over his corporate affiliations followed him through his period as vice-president. While he had limited background in commerce but good contacts in defence, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's largest oil and gas conglomerates, in 1995 as chairman and CEO.
In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's VP candidate for the executive branch. Debatably, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was granted US contracts totaling multiple billions.
It greatly increased his wealth. His yearly compensation during his time at the firm grew from his previous salary when he was defence secretary to over four million. When he left in 2000 he had a severance arrangement totaling in excess of $20m|twenty
