The late US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who passed away at age 84, was regarded as one of the most influential incumbents of that office in the nation's history. Whereas numerous VPs were limited to peripheral or figurehead positions, Cheney exercised huge power during the presidency of George W Bush, to the point that he was frequently referred to as the "true president".
Bush disliked this portrayal and said the connection was more nuanced. He pointed out that Cheney was deferential, always calling him in public settings as the President, while he called him as Dick. Bush challenged even descriptions of their relationship as a collaboration because it suggested that they were peers. In spite of these denials, Cheney found the easygoing president accommodating on a wide array of governmental choices.
A Period Following the Attacks
Leading of a group of neo-conservatives that included defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in reaction to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 strike, Bush had been taking part in a session at a elementary school in Florida. While Bush traveled to a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, ordering the downing of any unresponsive planes heading toward the government building.
Cheney said the strikes transformed him, making him become intent on retaliation. Together with other neo-cons, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a invasion of Afghanistan in an attempt to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the armed intervention of Iraq, although there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein playing a role.
Controversial Policies
He voiced no apologies about the invasion, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis died, nor about the harsh treatment of individuals apprehended after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was based on misleading reports repeated by Cheney, was the right path to take. "It was the correct action to do at that time. I had faith back then and I hold that view presently."
However during that period, there were contrary opinions at a top tier about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the administration's own representatives to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the role. "I saw, at a minimum," he wrote later "true dereliction, negligence, and recklessness: at worst, falsehoods, ineptitude, and dishonesty."
Additional Factors
Cheney was not entirely to blame for the Iraq invasion. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for such action. He had composed a memorandum outlining circumstances in which American interests might be threatened (including "availability of crucial commodities, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "America should be positioned to act independently when cooperative measures cannot be arranged," particularly citing defense operations against Iraq.
Bush additionally had arrived in the presidency generally inclined on carrying out what his predecessor had famously refused to do in 1991; remove Saddam. After he had been sacked by the administration, the finance chief Paul O'Neill disclosed how, at the first meeting of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his objective of lowering America's involvement in the regional tensions and mooted military action against Iraq.
Bush held a individual resentment against Saddam, believing he had been behind a scheme to murder his parent, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally resented that one of the most prominent hotels in Baghdad had a ground design with a portrait of his father's face that each person had to tread upon.
Investigation Approaches
But it was Cheney who was among the most outspoken advocating invading Iraq, repeatedly quoting intelligence reports that were both insubstantial or entirely deceptive. He endorsed what the Bush government indirectly described as "intensive questioning", the application of waterboarding and torture.
Addressing a Senate document in 2014 that found that no valuable data had come from the torture, Cheney rejected the report as "full of crap". He told Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to implement measures and establish programmes to capture the individuals who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it never happened again. That is precisely what they did and they earn a lot of praise."
Public Persona
Cheney took pleasure in nicknames given to him by critics such as Darth Vader and the sinister presence, and by the concept that he was a shadow power manipulating Bush. In the author's 2013 book about the pair, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is quoted as saying: "Am I the sinister strategist in the background that operates invisibly emerge from his domain? It's a nice way to work, truthfully."
Commercial Ties
Dispute over his commercial relationships followed him throughout his time as vice-president. While he had limited background in commerce but established relationships in defence, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial petroleum conglomerates, in 1995 as chairman and top executive.
In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's VP candidate for the executive branch. Controversially, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was given US agreements worth multiple billions.
It greatly increased his wealth. His yearly compensation during his time at the corporation rose from his quarter-million dollars during his time as military head to millions. When he left in 2000 he had a package totaling more than $20m|twenty
