The deceased US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who has died at the age of 84, was regarded as arguably the most significant holders of that office in US history. While many VPs were confined to marginal or figurehead roles, Cheney wielded enormous sway during the presidency of George W Bush, so much so that he was commonly described as the "true president".
Bush disliked this portrayal and said the dynamic was more complicated. He noted that Cheney was respectful, always referring to him in public settings as President, while he called him as Dick. Bush questioned even portrayals of their relationship as a team because it implied that they were on equal footing. In spite of these objections, Cheney found the easygoing president accommodating on a wide array of governmental choices.
The Aftermath of 9/11
Leading of a faction of neo-cons that featured Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in reaction to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. At the time of the 9/11 strike, Bush had been participating in a gathering at a elementary school in Florida. As Bush made his way to a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney took command, ordering the shooting down of any unresponsive planes approaching the US Capitol.
Cheney claimed the assaults transformed him, causing him to be focused on retribution. In conjunction with other neo-conservatives, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a occupation of Afghanistan in an effort to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the military action of Iraq, even though there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein having involvement.
Controversial Decisions
He showed no remorse about the armed intervention, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis perished, nor about the waterboarding of detainees captured after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was founded on faulty information repeated by Cheney, was the proper path to take. "It was the proper decision to do back then. I was convinced at the time and I hold that view presently."
But during that period, there were dissenting voices at a top tier about the botched execution of Iraq. One of the administration's own representatives to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the position. "I witnessed, as a baseline," he wrote later "obvious failure, inaction, and recklessness: at worst, falsehoods, ineptitude, and corruption."
Additional Factors
Cheney was not entirely accountable for the Iraq invasion. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for comparable steps. He had written a document detailing situations in which national priorities might be threatened (encompassing "availability of essential resources, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "the US should be postured to act independently when cooperative measures prove impossible," explicitly referencing military moves against Iraq.
Bush additionally had entered the White House generally inclined on carrying out what his parent had specifically avoided to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. Following he had been fired by the administration, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his objective of reducing America's engagement in the Middle East dispute and proposed defense operations against Iraq.
Bush held a individual resentment against Saddam, believing he had been involved in a scheme to murder his parent, 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 likeness of his predecessor's countenance that everyone had to walk over.
Investigation Approaches
Yet it was Cheney who was part of the most vehement advocating invading Iraq, frequently quoting agency briefings that were either insubstantial or entirely misleading. He backed what the Bush government politely called as "advanced techniques", the application of simulated drowning and torture.
Answering a Senate document in 2014 that concluded that no actionable intelligence had been obtained through the harsh techniques, Cheney dismissed the report as "riddled with crap". He stated to Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to take steps and establish programmes to apprehend the perpetrators who took the lives of 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it never happened again. That was specifically what they did and they earn a lot of credit."
Public Image
Cheney took pleasure in nicknames imposed on him by opponents such as the dark character and the dark figure, and by the notion that he was a shadow power manipulating Bush. In the author's 2013 book about the duo, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is quoted as saying: "Do I represent the sinister strategist in the background that nobody ever sees leave his hole? That is a nice way to work, truthfully."
Commercial Ties
Controversy over his commercial relationships accompanied him throughout his time as vice-president. While he had little experience in business but strong connections in military, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's largest energy conglomerates, in 1995 as leader and CEO.
In 2000 he was selected as Bush's VP candidate for the executive branch. Controversially, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was granted US deals totaling substantial sums.
It made him rich. His yearly earnings during his time at the corporation grew from his previous salary during his time as Pentagon chief to over four million. When he left in 2000 he had a compensation package worth over $20m|twenty
