The deceased US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who died at the age of 84, was regarded as among the most influential occupants of that office in US history. While numerous vice-presidents were confined to minor or ceremonial roles, Cheney exercised enormous power during the presidency of George W Bush, to the point that he was often described as the "true president".
Bush resented this portrayal and stated the relationship was more nuanced. He pointed out that Cheney was deferential, always referring to him in public as President, while he called him as Dick. Bush challenged even descriptions of their relationship as a collaboration because it implied that they were equals. Regardless of these objections, Cheney found the relaxed president pliable on a broad range of governmental choices.
The Post-9/11 Era
Leading of a group of neo-conservatives that encompassed military head Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the invasion of Iraq in 2003 in response to the September 11th attacks on New York and Washington. During of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been participating in a gathering at a educational institution in Florida. While Bush headed for a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, commanding the shooting down of any unresponsive aircraft heading toward the Capitol building.
Cheney claimed the attacks changed him, causing him to be determined on retaliation. In conjunction with other conservative figures, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a invasion of Afghanistan in an endeavor to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the invasion of Iraq, although there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein having involvement.
Debated Actions
He voiced no apologies about the invasion, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, and not about the waterboarding of detainees rounded up after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was founded on misleading information echoed by Cheney, was the correct course of action. "It represented the proper decision to do back then. I was convinced back then and I hold that view now."
However even then, there were opposing views at a top tier about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the government's own representatives to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the post. "I saw, at the very least," he subsequently stated "true dereliction, negligence, and recklessness: in the worst case, falsehoods, incompetence, and graft."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not entirely responsible for the Iraq invasion. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for such action. He had drafted a memo outlining scenarios in which national priorities might be threatened (featuring "availability of crucial commodities, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "America should be positioned to take unilateral action when cooperative measures cannot be arranged," specifically citing defense operations against Iraq.
Bush additionally had assumed the presidency vaguely intent on carrying out what his predecessor had notably declined to do in 1991; remove Saddam. Following he had been sacked by the president, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill disclosed how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his intention of reducing America's engagement in the Middle East dispute and suggested defense operations against Iraq.
Bush bore a private grievance against Saddam, convinced he had been behind a plot to murder his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally resented that one of the most prominent accommodations in Baghdad had a floor mural with a image of his predecessor's countenance that all visitors had to walk over.
Investigation Approaches
However it was Cheney who was one of the most outspoken supporting invading Iraq, consistently referencing agency briefings that were whether thin or totally misleading. He supported what the Bush government indirectly described as "intensive questioning", the use of waterboarding and physical pressure.
Addressing a Senate analysis in 2014 that found that no actionable intelligence had come from the interrogation methods, Cheney disregarded the findings as "full of crap". He informed Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to establish protocols and create procedures to catch the individuals who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it would not recur. That's exactly what they did and they earn a lot of recognition."
Public Image
Cheney reveled in monikers assigned to him by detractors such as the dark character and the dark figure, and by the idea that he was a sinister influence manipulating Bush. In Peter Baker's 2013 book about the two, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is quoted as saying: "Am I the evil genius in the background that operates invisibly come out of his domain? It's a advantageous way to operate, actually."
Corporate Connections
Controversy over his business interests accompanied him throughout his time as second-in-command. Even though he had limited background in business but good contacts in military, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's largest energy corporations, in 1995 as chairman and CEO.
In 2000 he became Bush's running mate for the White House. Debatably, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was given US contracts worth multiple billions.
It significantly boosted his finances. His yearly earnings during his time at the corporation rose from his $258,394 when he was Pentagon chief to $4.4m. When he departed in 2000 he had a severance arrangement worth in excess of $20m|twenty
