The former US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who died at age 84, was considered among the most influential incumbents of that position in US history. While numerous vice-presidents were confined to peripheral or ceremonial functions, Cheney wielded enormous power during the presidency of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was often referred to as the "real president".
Bush resented this portrayal and said the relationship was more complicated. He pointed out that Cheney was deferential, consistently addressing him in public settings as President, while he called him as Dick. Bush questioned even portrayals of their association as a collaboration because it suggested that they were on equal footing. Regardless of such protestations, Cheney found the laidback president accommodating on a broad range of governmental choices.
The Post-9/11 Era
At the head of a faction of conservative hawks that featured Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the invasion of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. At the time of the 9/11 assault, Bush had been participating in a session at a educational institution in Florida. Whereas Bush headed for a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney took command, directing the downing of any unidentified airplanes approaching the Capitol building.
Cheney claimed the strikes changed him, making him become determined on revenge. In conjunction with other neo-conservatives, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a takeover of Afghanistan in an attempt to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the armed intervention of Iraq, even though there was little proof of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Controversial Policies
He showed no remorse about the armed intervention, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, or about the waterboarding of suspects apprehended after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was based on faulty intelligence repeated by Cheney, was the right decision. "It was the proper decision to do then. I believed it at the time and I believe it presently."
Yet even then, there were dissenting voices at a top tier about the botched execution of Iraq. One of the administration's own special envoys to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the post. "I saw, at the very least," he wrote later "true dereliction, carelessness, and recklessness: potentially, lying, ineptitude, and dishonesty."
Additional Factors
Cheney was not solely accountable for the Iraq military action. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for comparable steps. He had composed a memo setting out scenarios in which national priorities might be compromised (including "obtaining crucial commodities, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "the US should be postured to take unilateral action when joint efforts prove impossible," particularly citing military moves against Iraq.
Bush additionally had assumed the White House generally inclined on implementing what his parent had specifically avoided to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. Following he had been sacked by the president, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his objective of lowering America's involvement in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and proposed defense operations against Iraq.
Bush bore a private grievance against Saddam, believing he had been responsible for a scheme to assassinate his parent, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally disliked that one of the largest accommodations in Baghdad had a ground design with a image of his predecessor's countenance that everyone had to tread upon.
Investigation Approaches
Yet it was Cheney who was among the most vehement supporting attacking Iraq, repeatedly citing information documents that were both insubstantial or entirely deceptive. He supported what the Bush administration euphemistically referred to as "enhanced interrogation", the application of waterboarding and physical pressure.
Answering a Senate document in 2014 that found that no valuable data had been obtained through the torture, Cheney dismissed the report as "riddled with crap". He informed Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to establish protocols and establish programmes to capture the individuals who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it would not recur. That was specifically what they did and they merit a lot of praise."
Public Persona
Cheney reveled in labels assigned to him by detractors such as the Star Wars villain and the sinister presence, and by the concept that he was a sinister influence manipulating Bush. In the author's 2013 publication about the duo, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is quoted as saying: "Is it me who is the sinister strategist in the background that nobody ever sees emerge from his lair? That is a advantageous way to work, truthfully."
Corporate Connections
Dispute over his corporate affiliations pursued him during his tenure as vice-president. Although he had limited background in corporate affairs but established relationships in defence, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial oil and gas conglomerates, in 1995 as chairman and chief executive.
In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's election partner for the executive branch. Debatably, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was given US contracts valued at multiple billions.
It significantly boosted his finances. His annual income during his period at the corporation grew from his quarter-million dollars while defence secretary to millions. When he departed in 2000 he had a package valued at in excess of $20m|twenty
