The deceased US VP Dick Cheney, who passed away at age 84, was considered one of the most influential holders of that position in American history. Whereas numerous second-in-commands were limited to marginal or figurehead functions, Cheney held substantial power during the term of George W Bush, so much so that he was commonly referred to as the "true president".
Bush objected to this portrayal and claimed the connection was more complex. He observed that Cheney was courteous, invariably addressing him in public settings as President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush challenged even portrayals of their relationship as a team because it suggested that they were peers. Regardless of these denials, Cheney considered the relaxed president pliable on a wide array of administrative determinations.
A Period Following the Attacks
In charge of a contingent of neo-conservatives that encompassed defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the military intervention of Iraq in 2003 in reaction to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. At the time of the 9/11 assault, Bush had been taking part in a gathering at a elementary school in Florida. Whereas Bush traveled to a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, commanding the downing of any unresponsive planes heading toward the Capitol building.
Cheney claimed the assaults changed him, making him become determined on retribution. Together with other neo-cons, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a occupation of Afghanistan in an endeavor to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the military action of Iraq, though there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Controversial Policies
He voiced no apologies about the military campaign, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis perished, nor about the waterboarding of individuals captured after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was based on faulty information circulated by Cheney, was the right decision. "It proved to be the proper decision to do at that time. I believed it back then and I believe it presently."
Yet even at the time, there were contrary opinions at a high level about the poor management of Iraq. One of the government's own special envoys to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the post. "I saw, at a minimum," he later wrote "true dereliction, carelessness, and unaccountability: potentially, lying, incompetence, and dishonesty."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not entirely accountable for the Iraq invasion. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for such action. He had drafted a memo setting out situations in which national priorities might be endangered (encompassing "obtaining vital raw materials, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "America should be prepared to act independently when cooperative measures cannot be arranged," specifically mentioning defense operations against Iraq.
Bush additionally had arrived in the Oval Office somewhat determined on executing what his predecessor had famously refused to do in 1991; topple Saddam. After he had been dismissed by the White House, the finance chief Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had announced his objective of lowering America's engagement in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and mooted military action against Iraq.
Bush bore a personal grudge against Saddam, believing he had been behind a conspiracy to kill his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore resented that one of the most prominent accommodations in Baghdad had a floor mural with a image of his parent's face that all visitors had to walk over.
Investigation Approaches
Yet it was Cheney who was one of the most vehement supporting striking Iraq, repeatedly quoting intelligence reports that were either insubstantial or completely misleading. He backed what the Bush government politely called as "enhanced interrogation", the application of interrogation method and physical pressure.
Responding to a Senate report in 2014 that determined that no actionable intelligence had been obtained through the torture, Cheney dismissed the findings as "loaded with crap". He stated to Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to implement measures and establish programmes to apprehend the perpetrators who took the lives of 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it would not recur. That was specifically what they did and they earn a lot of recognition."
Public Persona
Cheney reveled in labels imposed on him by opponents such as the dark character and The Prince of Darkness, and by the notion that he was a shadow power directing Bush. In Peter Baker's 2013 volume 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 nobody ever sees emerge from his hole? It's a advantageous way to work, in fact."
Corporate Connections
Debate over his corporate affiliations pursued him through his period as second-in-command. Even though he had minimal expertise in commerce but strong connections in defence, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's largest oil and gas corporations, in 1995 as chair and top executive.
In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's VP candidate for the executive branch. Contentiously, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was awarded US deals worth multiple billions.
It made him rich. His yearly earnings during his period at the company grew from his $258,394 when he was defence secretary to millions. When he left in 2000 he had a package worth in excess of $20m|twenty
