The deceased US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who died at age 84, was regarded as one of the most significant holders of that position in the nation's history. Whereas countless vice-presidents had to settle for minor or figurehead functions, Cheney wielded enormous sway during the administration of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was frequently described as the "actual president".
Bush resented such a characterisation and claimed the connection was more complex. He observed that Cheney was respectful, consistently referring to him in public as the President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush challenged even descriptions of their relationship as a team because it indicated that they were equals. Despite these denials, Cheney found the easygoing president malleable on a whole raft of administrative determinations.
A Post-9/11 Era
In charge of a contingent of conservative hawks that encompassed military head Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in reaction to the September 11th attacks on New York and Washington. During of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been attending a session at a school in Florida. As Bush traveled to a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney took command, commanding the shooting down of any unidentified planes approaching the Capitol building.
Cheney stated the assaults changed him, causing him to be determined on retaliation. Together with other neo-cons, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a invasion of Afghanistan in an endeavor to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the invasion of Iraq, though there was little proof of Saddam Hussein having involvement.
Disputed Decisions
He expressed no regrets about the armed intervention, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, nor about the harsh treatment of individuals apprehended after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was founded on inaccurate intelligence echoed by Cheney, was the correct decision. "It proved to be the correct action to do then. I believed it at the time and I believe it now."
However even then, there were contrary opinions at a top tier about the botched execution of Iraq. One of the administration's own special envoys to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the role. "I witnessed, as a baseline," he wrote later "true dereliction, negligence, and unaccountability: potentially, lying, incompetence, and corruption."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not solely responsible for the Iraq invasion. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for comparable steps. He had drafted a document outlining circumstances in which American interests might be compromised (including "access to vital raw materials, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "the United States should be postured to act independently when joint efforts prove impossible," specifically mentioning armed actions against Iraq.
Bush too had arrived in the Oval Office vaguely intent on carrying out what his father had famously refused to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. Subsequent to he had been dismissed by the White House, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his objective of reducing America's participation in the Middle East dispute and proposed defense operations against Iraq.
Bush held a private grievance against Saddam, convinced he had been responsible for a scheme to murder his father, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally resented that one of the most prominent establishments in Baghdad had a ground design with a image of his predecessor's countenance that all visitors had to walk over.
Investigation Approaches
But it was Cheney who was part of the most vehement supporting invading Iraq, frequently citing agency briefings that were both weak or entirely misleading. He supported what the Bush government politely called as "advanced techniques", the application of waterboarding and harsh treatment.
Addressing a Senate report in 2014 that found that no actionable intelligence had resulted from the torture, Cheney dismissed the report as "riddled with crap". He told Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to implement measures and establish programmes to apprehend the individuals who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it never happened again. That was specifically what they did and they earn a lot of praise."
Public Persona
Cheney enjoyed labels given to him by opponents such as the dark character and the dark figure, and by the idea that he was a shadow power controlling Bush. In Peter Baker's 2013 publication about the duo, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is reported as stating: "Is it me who is the sinister strategist in the shadows that operates invisibly come out of his hole? That is a effective way to function, in fact."
Commercial Ties
Dispute over his commercial relationships followed him through his period as vice-president. While he had little experience in commerce but strong connections in defence, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial petroleum corporations, in 1995 as leader and top executive.
In 2000 he was selected as Bush's VP candidate for the White House. Debatably, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was awarded US deals valued at substantial sums.
It made him rich. His annual income during his tenure at the company increased from his previous salary during his time as defence secretary to millions. When he resigned in 2000 he had a severance arrangement worth in excess of $20m|twenty
