The deceased US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who passed away at the age of 84, was regarded as arguably the most influential occupants of that position in US history. Whereas countless vice-presidents were confined to minor or ceremonial positions, Cheney held enormous influence during the presidency of George W Bush, to the point that he was commonly described as the "actual president".
Bush objected to this portrayal and claimed the connection was more nuanced. He observed that Cheney was respectful, always calling him in public settings as President, while he called him as Dick. Bush questioned even characterisations of their relationship as a collaboration because it suggested that they were peers. In spite of these denials, Cheney considered the easygoing president malleable on a wide array of administrative determinations.
The Period Following the Attacks
In charge of a contingent of neo-conservatives that included military head Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in reaction to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. During of the 9/11 strike, Bush had been participating in a gathering at a elementary school in Florida. Whereas Bush traveled to a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney took command, commanding the destruction of any non-communicating planes approaching the government building.
Cheney stated the assaults altered his perspective, making him become focused on retribution. Together with other conservative figures, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a takeover of Afghanistan in an effort to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the invasion of Iraq, though there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Debated Decisions
He voiced no apologies about the armed intervention, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, or about the harsh treatment of detainees apprehended after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was founded on misleading reports circulated by Cheney, was the proper path to take. "It was the right thing to do then. I had faith back then and I hold that view today."
Yet even at the time, there were opposing views at a high level about the botched execution of Iraq. One of the White House's own delegates to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the position. "I saw, at a minimum," he wrote later "obvious failure, negligence, and irresponsibility: at worst, falsehoods, incompetence, and corruption."
Additional Factors
Cheney was not solely accountable for the Iraq invasion. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for similar measures. He had drafted a document setting out circumstances in which national priorities might be threatened (featuring "availability of vital raw materials, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "America should be positioned to operate alone when joint efforts prove impossible," explicitly mentioning armed actions against Iraq.
Bush additionally had arrived in the Oval Office vaguely intent on executing what his predecessor had specifically avoided to do in 1991; topple Saddam. Following he had been fired by the president, the finance chief Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his intention of lowering America's engagement in the regional tensions and mooted armed intervention against Iraq.
Bush carried a private grievance against Saddam, thinking he had been behind a plot to murder his parent, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He also disliked that one of the largest hotels in Baghdad had a floor mural with a image of his father's countenance that each person had to walk over.
Investigation Approaches
However it was Cheney who was part of the most vociferous supporting attacking Iraq, frequently referencing intelligence reports that were both weak or completely inaccurate. He endorsed what the Bush government politely called as "intensive questioning", the use of waterboarding and physical pressure.
Answering a Senate document in 2014 that concluded that no useful information had come from the interrogation methods, Cheney dismissed the findings as "riddled with crap". He informed Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to implement measures and put in place programmes to apprehend the individuals who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it was not repeated. That was specifically what they did and they earn a lot of credit."
Public Persona
Cheney took pleasure in nicknames given to him by opponents such as the Star Wars villain and the dark figure, and by the concept that he was a shadow power manipulating Bush. In the journalist's 2013 book about the pair, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is cited as commenting: "Am I the evil genius in the background that remains unseen leave his hole? That is a nice way to work, actually."
Business Interests
Dispute over his corporate affiliations accompanied him through his period as second-in-command. Although he had limited background in business but established relationships in security, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's largest oil and gas companies, in 1995 as chair and chief executive.
In 2000 he became Bush's running mate for the executive branch. Contentiously, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was granted US contracts valued at billions.
It greatly increased his wealth. His annual income during his time at the corporation rose from his $258,394 while defence secretary to $4.4m. When he resigned in 2000 he had a package totaling in excess of $20m|twenty
