The former US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who passed away at age 84, was considered arguably the most influential incumbents of that position in the nation's history. Although many vice-presidents had to settle for minor or symbolic positions, Cheney wielded substantial power during the administration of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was commonly called as the "actual president".
Bush resented that description and stated the relationship was more complex. He observed that Cheney was respectful, invariably referring to him in public settings as Mr President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush disputed even portrayals of their relationship as a partnership because it suggested that they were peers. In spite of such protestations, Cheney considered the laidback president accommodating on a whole raft of policy decisions.
A Post-9/11 Era
At the head of a contingent of neo-conservatives that included defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the invasion of Iraq in 2003 in reaction to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. During of the 9/11 strike, Bush had been taking part in a session at a educational institution in Florida. As Bush traveled to a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, ordering the downing of any unidentified airplanes nearing the US Capitol.
Cheney stated the assaults altered his perspective, making him become focused on revenge. Along with other neo-cons, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a occupation of Afghanistan in an attempt to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then pressed fiercely for the invasion of Iraq, though there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Controversial Decisions
He voiced no apologies about the military campaign, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis perished, nor about the waterboarding of detainees rounded up after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was predicated on inaccurate information circulated by Cheney, was the proper path to take. "It was the right thing to do at that time. I was convinced at the time and I hold that view presently."
However during that period, there were dissenting voices at a senior level about the poor management of Iraq. One of the White House's own special envoys to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the position. "I saw, at the very least," he later wrote "true dereliction, inaction, and unaccountability: at worst, lying, ineptitude, and graft."
Additional Factors
Cheney was not solely to blame for the Iraq invasion. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for similar measures. He had written a memorandum outlining situations in which national priorities might be threatened (encompassing "access to vital raw materials, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "America should be postured to operate alone when joint efforts prove impossible," explicitly citing armed actions against Iraq.
Bush too had arrived in the White House vaguely intent on implementing what his father had specifically avoided to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. Subsequent to he had been sacked 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 declared his plan of reducing America's engagement in the Middle East dispute and mooted armed intervention against Iraq.
Bush bore a individual resentment against Saddam, thinking he had been behind a conspiracy to assassinate his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He also disliked that one of the largest establishments in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a likeness of his predecessor's visage that each person had to tread upon.
Investigation Approaches
However it was Cheney who was among the most vehement behind attacking Iraq, frequently citing information documents that were either thin or totally inaccurate. He backed what the Bush administration euphemistically referred to as "intensive questioning", the employment of interrogation method and physical pressure.
Answering a Senate document in 2014 that found that no useful information had resulted from the interrogation methods, Cheney rejected the findings as "riddled with crap". He informed Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to implement measures and create programmes to catch the bastards who took the lives of 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it would not recur. That's exactly what they did and they merit a lot of recognition."
External Perception
Cheney reveled in labels given to him by opponents such as Darth Vader and The Prince of Darkness, and by the idea that he was a sinister influence directing Bush. In the journalist's 2013 publication about the duo, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is cited as commenting: "Is it me who is the sinister strategist in the background that remains unseen come out of his lair? This represents a advantageous way to function, in fact."
Business Interests
Debate over his commercial relationships accompanied him throughout his time as second-in-command. Although he had limited background in corporate affairs but established relationships in security, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's biggest energy corporations, in 1995 as leader and top executive.
In 2000 he was selected as Bush's running mate for the executive branch. Contentiously, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was awarded US agreements valued at billions.
It greatly increased his wealth. His yearly earnings during his time at the firm grew from his previous salary when he was military head to millions. When he departed in 2000 he had a package totaling over $20m|twenty
