The former US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who passed away at age 84, was considered arguably the most influential incumbents of that position in the nation's history. While many VPs had to settle for minor or symbolic positions, Cheney held substantial influence during the presidency of George W Bush, so much so that he was frequently described as the "true president".
Bush objected to such a characterisation and stated the connection was more complicated. He observed that Cheney was courteous, always addressing him in official appearances as the President, while he called him as Dick. Bush challenged even portrayals of their association as a collaboration because it indicated that they were peers. Regardless of such protestations, Cheney viewed the laidback president malleable on a whole raft of policy decisions.
A Aftermath of 9/11
In charge of a contingent of neo-cons that included defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in reaction to the September 11th attacks on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 assault, Bush had been taking part in a meeting at a elementary school in Florida. While Bush headed for a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, commanding the downing of any unresponsive aircraft nearing the US Capitol.
Cheney said the strikes changed him, making him become determined on revenge. Together with other conservative figures, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a occupation of Afghanistan in an attempt to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the military action of Iraq, even though there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein having involvement.
Debated Policies
He voiced no apologies about the military campaign, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis died, or about the enhanced interrogation of individuals rounded up after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was founded on misleading reports echoed by Cheney, was the right course of action. "It proved to be the proper decision to do back then. I had faith at the time and I believe it now."
But during that period, there were contrary opinions at a top tier about the poor management of Iraq. One of the administration's own representatives to the Middle East, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the post. "I saw, as a baseline," he later wrote "obvious failure, carelessness, and recklessness: in the worst case, deception, ineptitude, and graft."
Additional Factors
Cheney was not solely to blame for the Iraq campaign. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for comparable steps. He had drafted a memorandum detailing circumstances in which national priorities might be threatened (including "access to vital raw materials, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "the United States should be postured to operate alone when collective action cannot be arranged," specifically mentioning defense operations against Iraq.
Bush also had entered the presidency vaguely intent on executing what his parent had famously refused to do in 1991; remove Saddam. Subsequent to he had been dismissed by the White House, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill disclosed how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his intention of diminishing America's engagement in the regional tensions and suggested armed intervention against Iraq.
Bush carried a individual resentment against Saddam, believing he had been behind a conspiracy to kill his parent, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore disliked that one of the largest hotels in Baghdad had a floor mural with a likeness of his father's visage that all visitors had to step on.
Investigation Approaches
However it was Cheney who was among the most vociferous behind striking Iraq, frequently quoting agency briefings that were both insubstantial or entirely deceptive. He endorsed what the Bush White House politely called as "enhanced interrogation", the application of waterboarding and harsh treatment.
Addressing a Senate analysis in 2014 that concluded that no actionable intelligence had come from the interrogation methods, Cheney dismissed the findings as "full of crap". He informed Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to implement measures and put in place procedures to apprehend the perpetrators who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it would not recur. That is precisely what they did and they merit a lot of credit."
External Perception
Cheney reveled in nicknames assigned to him by opponents such as the dark character and the sinister presence, and by the concept that he was a dark force manipulating Bush. In the journalist's 2013 book about the two, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is cited as commenting: "Is it me who is the sinister strategist in the background that operates invisibly come out of his hole? This represents a advantageous way to function, actually."
Corporate Connections
Dispute over his commercial relationships followed him during his tenure as vice-president. While he had little experience in commerce but strong connections in military, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's biggest petroleum companies, in 1995 as leader and top executive.
In 2000 he became Bush's election partner for the White House. Debatably, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was given US contracts totaling multiple billions.
It significantly boosted his finances. His yearly earnings during his time at the corporation grew from his quarter-million dollars while defence secretary to $4.4m. When he resigned in 2000 he had a package totaling over $20m|twenty
