The late US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who passed away at the age of 84, was considered one of the most significant incumbents of that office in US history. Whereas numerous VPs had to settle for marginal or figurehead positions, Cheney wielded enormous influence during the administration of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was frequently described as the "real president".
Bush resented that description and claimed the dynamic was more nuanced. He observed that Cheney was deferential, invariably referring to him in public as the President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush challenged even portrayals of their partnership as a team because it indicated that they were equals. Despite such protestations, Cheney considered the easygoing president pliable on a whole raft of governmental choices.
The Aftermath of 9/11
Leading of a faction of conservative hawks that encompassed military head Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the military intervention of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. At the time of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been taking part in a gathering at a elementary school in Florida. As Bush traveled to a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, commanding the destruction of any unidentified planes heading toward the US Capitol.
Cheney claimed the assaults altered his perspective, leading him to become focused on retaliation. Together with other conservative figures, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a occupation of Afghanistan in an endeavor to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the invasion of Iraq, although there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein having involvement.
Disputed Actions
He expressed no regrets about the invasion, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis died, and not about the waterboarding of suspects captured after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was founded on faulty reports echoed by Cheney, was the right path to take. "It proved to be the proper decision to do then. I was convinced then and I maintain that stance today."
However during that period, there were contrary opinions at a top tier about the poor management of Iraq. One of the White House's own delegates to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the role. "I witnessed, at a minimum," he subsequently stated "true dereliction, negligence, and unaccountability: in the worst case, lying, incompetence, and corruption."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not completely accountable for the Iraq invasion. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for similar measures. He had written a document outlining situations in which US concerns might be endangered (featuring "obtaining essential resources, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "the United States should be postured to take unilateral action when joint efforts cannot be orchestrated," explicitly citing military moves against Iraq.
Bush additionally had arrived in the White House somewhat determined on carrying out what his parent had specifically avoided to do in 1991; topple Saddam. Following he had been sacked by the White House, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the first meeting of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his plan of lowering America's involvement in the regional tensions and mooted defense operations against Iraq.
Bush carried a private grievance against Saddam, thinking he had been behind a scheme to assassinate his father, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore objected to that one of the biggest accommodations in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a image of his parent's visage that everyone had to walk over.
Investigation Approaches
But it was Cheney who was one of the most vehement advocating invading Iraq, repeatedly referencing agency briefings that were both weak or entirely misleading. He supported what the Bush administration politely called as "advanced techniques", the application of waterboarding and physical pressure.
Answering a Senate report in 2014 that determined that no actionable intelligence had resulted from the interrogation methods, Cheney dismissed the findings as "loaded with crap". He stated to Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to take steps and put in place procedures to capture the bastards who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it was not repeated. That was specifically what they did and they deserve a lot of credit."
Public Persona
Cheney reveled in monikers given to him by opponents such as the dark character and The Prince of Darkness, and by the concept that he was a dark force directing Bush. In the author's 2013 volume about the two, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is cited as commenting: "Do I represent the evil genius in the corner that remains unseen emerge from his lair? That is a advantageous way to work, in fact."
Corporate Connections
Debate over his corporate affiliations accompanied him through his period as second-in-command. Although he had little experience in corporate affairs but good contacts in defence, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial petroleum corporations, in 1995 as leader and CEO.
In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's running mate for the presidency. Debatably, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was awarded US contracts totaling substantial sums.
It made him rich. His yearly earnings during his time at the firm increased from his previous salary when he was military head to over four million. When he departed in 2000 he had a package totaling more than $20m|twenty
