The deceased US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who died at age 84, was considered among the most powerful incumbents of that position in American history. Although many VPs were limited to marginal or symbolic roles, Cheney wielded huge influence during the term of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was often referred to as the "actual president".
Bush resented such a characterisation and stated the connection was more complicated. He observed that Cheney was courteous, invariably addressing him in public settings as Mr President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush questioned even characterisations of their partnership as a partnership because it suggested that they were peers. Regardless of these objections, Cheney found the laidback president malleable on a broad range of administrative determinations.
A Aftermath of 9/11
In charge of a contingent of conservative hawks that included military head Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the invasion of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. During of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been participating in a gathering at a educational institution in Florida. Whereas Bush headed for a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney took command, commanding the downing of any unresponsive airplanes heading toward the US Capitol.
Cheney stated the assaults transformed him, leading him to become determined on retribution. In conjunction with other conservative figures, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a takeover of Afghanistan in an attempt to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the invasion of Iraq, though there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Controversial Actions
He voiced no apologies about the invasion, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, and not about the enhanced interrogation of individuals apprehended after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was based on inaccurate reports echoed by Cheney, was the proper path to take. "It represented the proper decision to do back then. I believed it then and I maintain that stance presently."
Yet 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 special envoys to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the position. "I witnessed, at a minimum," he wrote later "obvious failure, inaction, and recklessness: potentially, lying, unfitness, and graft."
Broader Context
Cheney was not completely responsible for the Iraq invasion. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for comparable steps. He had drafted a memo setting out circumstances in which American interests might be threatened (including "obtaining crucial commodities, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "the US should be prepared to act independently when cooperative measures cannot be arranged," specifically citing defense operations against Iraq.
Bush also had assumed the presidency generally inclined on implementing what his parent had specifically avoided to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. Subsequent to he had been dismissed 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 diminishing America's engagement in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and suggested defense operations against Iraq.
Bush held a private grievance against Saddam, believing he had been involved in a scheme to kill his parent, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore objected to that one of the most prominent hotels in Baghdad had a ground design with a image of his parent's countenance that all visitors had to tread upon.
Investigation Approaches
But it was Cheney who was among the most vociferous behind striking Iraq, frequently citing intelligence reports that were both insubstantial or totally misleading. He supported what the Bush administration euphemistically referred to as "intensive questioning", the use of simulated drowning and harsh treatment.
Addressing a Senate analysis in 2014 that determined that no actionable intelligence had come from the harsh techniques, Cheney disregarded the conclusions as "loaded with crap". He informed Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to establish protocols and create procedures to capture the perpetrators who took the lives of 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it never happened again. That is precisely what they did and they deserve a lot of recognition."
Public Image
Cheney reveled in labels given to him by critics such as the Star Wars villain and the dark figure, and by the concept that he was a shadow power controlling Bush. In the journalist's 2013 publication about the duo, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is reported as stating: "Do I represent the malevolent mastermind in the background that nobody ever sees leave his hole? This represents a advantageous way to operate, in fact."
Commercial Ties
Controversy over his business interests accompanied him during his tenure as vice-president. Although he had little experience in business but established relationships in defence, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's biggest oil and gas companies, in 1995 as chairman and chief executive.
In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's VP candidate for the White House. Controversially, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was given US agreements totaling substantial sums.
It made him rich. His yearly earnings during his period at the corporation grew from his previous salary when he was military head to over four million. When he departed in 2000 he had a severance arrangement totaling more than $20m|twenty
