The deceased US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who died at age 84, was seen as one of the most significant holders of that office in US history. While countless vice-presidents were confined to peripheral or ceremonial positions, Cheney exercised enormous sway during the presidency of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was commonly referred to as the "true president".
Bush resented that description and stated the connection was more complex. He observed that Cheney was respectful, consistently addressing him in official appearances as the President, while he called him as Dick. Bush questioned even descriptions of their partnership as a team because it suggested that they were equals. In spite of these denials, Cheney considered the relaxed president pliable on a wide array of policy decisions.
A Aftermath of 9/11
Leading of a contingent of conservative hawks that included Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. At the time of the 9/11 strike, Bush had been attending a session at a school in Florida. As Bush traveled to a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, ordering the destruction of any non-communicating planes heading toward the Capitol building.
Cheney stated the assaults transformed him, causing him to be determined on retaliation. Together with other neo-conservatives, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a invasion of Afghanistan in an effort to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then pressed fiercely for the armed intervention of Iraq, though there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein playing a role.
Controversial Policies
He expressed no regrets about the armed intervention, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, or about the waterboarding of individuals apprehended after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was based on misleading reports circulated by Cheney, was the proper path to take. "It was the proper decision to do at that time. I believed it then and I hold that view today."
However even at the time, there were contrary opinions at a high level about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the White House's own special envoys to the Middle East, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the post. "I saw, at the very least," he subsequently stated "clear negligence, negligence, and irresponsibility: in the worst case, lying, ineptitude, and dishonesty."
Additional Factors
Cheney was not solely accountable for the Iraq military action. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for similar measures. He had drafted a memo detailing scenarios in which US concerns might be compromised (featuring "obtaining crucial commodities, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "the United States should be positioned to act independently when cooperative measures cannot be orchestrated," specifically mentioning military moves against Iraq.
Bush additionally had assumed the White House generally inclined on carrying out what his father had notably declined to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. Following he had been fired by the administration, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the first meeting of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his objective of reducing America's participation in the regional tensions and suggested defense operations against Iraq.
Bush bore a individual resentment against Saddam, thinking he had been responsible for a scheme to kill his father, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore resented that one of the largest accommodations in Baghdad had a ground design with a portrait of his predecessor's countenance that all visitors had to walk over.
Interrogation Methods
But it was Cheney who was among the most vociferous behind striking Iraq, frequently referencing information documents that were both weak or entirely deceptive. He supported what the Bush White House politely called as "advanced techniques", the use of waterboarding and torture.
Responding to a Senate analysis in 2014 that determined that no actionable intelligence had come from the harsh techniques, Cheney disregarded the conclusions as "loaded with crap". He informed Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to establish protocols and establish programmes to catch the bastards who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it was not repeated. That is precisely what they did and they deserve a lot of praise."
Public Persona
Cheney reveled in labels assigned to him by opponents such as the Star Wars villain and the sinister presence, and by the notion that he was a dark force controlling Bush. In the journalist's 2013 volume 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 operates invisibly come out of his lair? That is a nice way to function, in fact."
Business Interests
Dispute over his commercial relationships accompanied him throughout his time as vice-president. Although he had little experience in business but good contacts in security, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's biggest oil and gas corporations, in 1995 as leader and top executive.
In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's running mate for the presidency. Debatably, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was granted US agreements worth billions.
It made him rich. His annual income during his time at the corporation grew from his quarter-million dollars when he was military head to $4.4m. When he left in 2000 he had a severance arrangement valued at more than $20m|twenty
