The former US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who passed away at the age of 84, was regarded as among the most significant occupants of the vice-presidency in the nation's history. Although numerous vice-presidents were confined to peripheral or figurehead functions, Cheney held substantial sway during the administration of George W Bush, to the point that he was frequently described as the "true president".
Bush objected to such a characterisation and stated the dynamic was more nuanced. He noted that Cheney was deferential, consistently calling him in public settings as President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush disputed even descriptions of their partnership as a collaboration because it indicated that they were equals. Despite such protestations, Cheney found the easygoing president accommodating on a whole raft of policy decisions.
The Aftermath of 9/11
In charge of a group of conservative hawks that featured defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the military intervention of Iraq in 2003 in response to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. At the time of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been attending a meeting at a elementary school in Florida. As Bush traveled to a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney took command, commanding the downing of any unidentified planes heading toward the US Capitol.
Cheney said the assaults changed him, causing him to be determined on retaliation. In conjunction with other conservative figures, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a invasion 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 having involvement.
Debated Actions
He voiced no apologies about the invasion, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis died, nor about the enhanced interrogation of suspects rounded up after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was predicated on misleading reports circulated by Cheney, was the right path to take. "It represented the proper decision to do at that time. I had faith at the time and I hold that view today."
Yet even then, there were opposing views at a top tier about the botched execution of Iraq. One of the administration's own representatives to the Middle East, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the post. "I observed, at a minimum," he subsequently stated "obvious failure, carelessness, and irresponsibility: at worst, falsehoods, unfitness, and dishonesty."
Broader Context
Cheney was not completely responsible for the Iraq invasion. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for comparable steps. He had written a memo setting out situations in which US concerns might be endangered (encompassing "availability of essential resources, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "the US should be positioned to act independently when collective action cannot be arranged," explicitly citing defense operations against Iraq.
Bush also had entered the White House vaguely intent on carrying out what his parent had famously refused to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. After he had been dismissed by the president, the finance chief Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his intention of diminishing America's engagement in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and suggested armed intervention against Iraq.
Bush held a personal grudge against Saddam, thinking he had been responsible for a scheme to murder his parent, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore disliked that one of the most prominent accommodations in Baghdad had a ground design with a portrait of his predecessor's visage that everyone had to step on.
Investigation Approaches
Yet it was Cheney who was among the most vociferous supporting invading Iraq, repeatedly referencing information documents that were whether thin or totally inaccurate. He backed what the Bush government politely called as "enhanced interrogation", the application of simulated drowning and torture.
Answering a Senate report in 2014 that found that no valuable data had resulted from the torture, Cheney dismissed the findings as "loaded with crap". He informed Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to establish protocols and establish programmes to apprehend the individuals who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it was not repeated. That is precisely what they did and they merit a lot of recognition."
External Perception
Cheney took pleasure in monikers assigned to him by detractors such as Darth Vader and The Prince of Darkness, and by the idea that he was a shadow power manipulating Bush. In Peter Baker's 2013 publication about the two, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is reported as stating: "Do I represent the evil genius in the shadows that remains unseen emerge from his hole? That is a effective way to work, in fact."
Corporate Connections
Debate over his corporate affiliations followed him through his period as second-in-command. Although he had limited background in commerce but established relationships in defence, notably 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 assumed the role of Bush's election partner for the presidency. Controversially, during the military campaign, Halliburton was granted US contracts valued at multiple billions.
It made him rich. His yearly compensation during his period at the company increased from his quarter-million dollars when he was military head to millions. When he departed in 2000 he had a package worth over $20m|twenty
