The deceased US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who passed away at the age of 84, was seen as among the most influential occupants of that office in the nation's history. While numerous VPs were limited to minor or figurehead functions, Cheney wielded substantial influence during the term of George W Bush, so much so that he was commonly described as the "true president".
Bush disliked that description and said the connection was more complicated. He pointed out that Cheney was courteous, always calling him in public settings as the President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush questioned even characterisations of their relationship as a partnership because it suggested that they were on equal footing. In spite of such protestations, Cheney considered the relaxed president malleable on a broad range of policy decisions.
The Period Following the Attacks
At the head of a contingent of neo-conservatives that featured defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in response to the September 11th attacks on New York and Washington. At the time of the 9/11 assault, Bush had been participating in a meeting at a school in Florida. Whereas Bush headed for a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, commanding the destruction of any unresponsive aircraft heading toward the government building.
Cheney said the strikes altered his perspective, leading him to become intent on retaliation. Along with other conservative figures, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a invasion of Afghanistan in an effort to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then pressed fiercely for the military action of Iraq, even though there was little proof of Saddam Hussein having involvement.
Debated Policies
He showed no remorse about the military campaign, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis perished, and not about the waterboarding of detainees rounded up after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was founded on misleading reports circulated by Cheney, was the proper decision. "It was the proper decision to do at that time. I was convinced at the time and I maintain that stance now."
But during that period, there were opposing views at a senior level about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the government's own representatives to the Middle East, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the post. "I witnessed, as a baseline," he wrote later "clear negligence, carelessness, and recklessness: potentially, lying, ineptitude, and graft."
Broader Context
Cheney was not entirely accountable for the Iraq military action. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for comparable steps. He had written a document outlining scenarios in which national priorities might be endangered (including "obtaining vital raw materials, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "the United States should be positioned to take unilateral action when cooperative measures cannot be arranged," particularly citing military moves against Iraq.
Bush additionally had arrived in the White House somewhat determined on carrying out what his predecessor had notably declined to do in 1991; remove Saddam. Following he had been fired by the White House, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill disclosed how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had announced his intention of reducing America's involvement in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and proposed defense operations against Iraq.
Bush held a private grievance against Saddam, believing he had been behind a conspiracy to murder his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally disliked that one of the biggest accommodations in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a image of his parent's face that all visitors had to walk over.
Investigation Approaches
However it was Cheney who was among the most outspoken behind attacking Iraq, repeatedly referencing intelligence reports that were either thin or completely deceptive. He supported what the Bush administration politely called as "intensive questioning", the employment of simulated drowning and torture.
Responding to a Senate document in 2014 that found that no actionable intelligence had resulted from the harsh techniques, Cheney dismissed the report as "loaded with crap". He stated to Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to implement measures and put in place programmes to capture the perpetrators who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it was not repeated. That is precisely what they did and they deserve a lot of credit."
Public Image
Cheney enjoyed nicknames imposed on him by opponents such as the dark character and the dark figure, and by the notion that he was a dark force directing Bush. In the author's 2013 publication about the duo, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is reported as stating: "Am I the malevolent mastermind in the shadows that remains unseen come out of his domain? This represents a effective way to operate, in fact."
Commercial Ties
Controversy over his corporate affiliations pursued him during his tenure as second-in-command. Although he had minimal expertise in commerce but good contacts in security, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's biggest energy conglomerates, in 1995 as leader and CEO.
In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's running mate for the executive branch. Contentiously, during the military campaign, Halliburton was awarded US deals totaling multiple billions.
It made him rich. His yearly compensation during his tenure at the firm rose from his previous salary while defence secretary to over four million. When he departed in 2000 he had a compensation package worth over $20m|twenty
