The late US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who passed away at the age of 84, was seen as arguably the most influential incumbents of that position in the nation's history. Although countless vice-presidents were limited to peripheral or symbolic positions, Cheney held substantial sway during the presidency of George W Bush, to the point that he was frequently described as the "true president".
Bush resented that description and claimed the relationship was more complicated. He noted that Cheney was deferential, always referring to him in public as the President, while he called him as Dick. Bush questioned even descriptions of their relationship as a collaboration because it indicated that they were equals. Despite these objections, Cheney viewed the laidback president accommodating on a whole raft of administrative determinations.
The Aftermath of 9/11
Leading of a faction of neo-cons that included military head Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. During of the 9/11 assault, Bush had been taking part in a meeting at a elementary school in Florida. While Bush headed for a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney took command, ordering the downing of any unidentified aircraft heading toward the US Capitol.
Cheney said the assaults transformed him, making him become determined on revenge. In conjunction with other neo-cons, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a invasion of Afghanistan in an effort to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then pressed fiercely for the invasion of Iraq, although there was little proof of Saddam Hussein having involvement.
Debated Decisions
He showed no remorse about the armed intervention, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, nor about the enhanced interrogation of suspects captured after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was predicated on misleading intelligence echoed by Cheney, was the correct course of action. "It proved to be the proper decision to do back then. I had faith back then and I hold that view presently."
But even at the time, there were opposing views at a high level about the poor management of Iraq. One of the White House's own delegates to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the role. "I witnessed, at the very least," he later wrote "true dereliction, negligence, and recklessness: in the worst case, lying, unfitness, and corruption."
Additional Factors
Cheney was not solely accountable for the Iraq invasion. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for such action. He had composed a memo detailing circumstances in which American interests might be endangered (including "access to crucial commodities, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "the United States should be postured to act independently when joint efforts cannot be orchestrated," explicitly mentioning military moves against Iraq.
Bush additionally had arrived in the White House somewhat determined on executing what his predecessor had specifically avoided to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. After he had been fired by the president, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had announced his plan of reducing America's participation in the regional tensions and proposed armed intervention against Iraq.
Bush held a private grievance against Saddam, believing he had been responsible for a conspiracy to assassinate his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally resented that one of the biggest hotels in Baghdad had a ground design with a image of his father's face that each person had to walk over.
Investigation Approaches
Yet it was Cheney who was part of the most vociferous behind invading Iraq, frequently citing intelligence reports that were whether thin or totally inaccurate. He endorsed what the Bush administration politely called as "intensive questioning", the application of waterboarding and harsh treatment.
Responding to a Senate analysis in 2014 that concluded that no valuable data had been obtained through the harsh techniques, Cheney dismissed the conclusions as "full of crap". He stated to Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to establish protocols and establish initiatives to apprehend the bastards who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it was not repeated. That's exactly what they did and they earn a lot of credit."
External Perception
Cheney reveled in labels imposed on him by opponents such as the Star Wars villain and the sinister presence, and by the concept that he was a dark force 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: "Am I the sinister strategist in the background that nobody ever sees come out of his lair? That is a effective way to work, actually."
Business Interests
Controversy over his corporate affiliations pursued him throughout his time as second-in-command. Although he had minimal expertise in corporate affairs but good contacts in defence, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's largest petroleum corporations, in 1995 as chairman and top executive.
In 2000 he was selected as Bush's election partner for the presidency. Contentiously, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was given US deals totaling billions.
It greatly increased his wealth. His yearly compensation during his time at the firm rose from his previous salary during his time as Pentagon chief to millions. When he departed in 2000 he had a compensation package valued at in excess of $20m|twenty
