The late US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who passed away at the age of 84, was seen as among the most significant occupants of that position in the nation's history. Whereas countless VPs had to settle for marginal or symbolic positions, Cheney exercised substantial sway during the administration of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was commonly called as the "true president".
Bush objected to that description and said the connection was more complicated. He noted that Cheney was courteous, invariably calling him in public as the President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush challenged even descriptions of their association as a partnership because it suggested that they were on equal footing. Despite these objections, Cheney viewed the easygoing president accommodating on a wide array of administrative determinations.
The Period Following the Attacks
At the head of a faction of conservative hawks that encompassed defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the invasion of Iraq in 2003 in response to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. During of the 9/11 assault, Bush had been participating in a meeting at a elementary school in Florida. While Bush headed for a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, commanding the downing of any unresponsive planes heading toward the US Capitol.
Cheney stated the assaults altered his perspective, making him become intent on retaliation. In conjunction with other neo-cons, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a occupation of Afghanistan in an effort to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then pressed fiercely for the military action of Iraq, although there was little proof of Saddam Hussein having involvement.
Disputed Actions
He showed no remorse about the armed intervention, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis perished, or about the enhanced interrogation of individuals captured after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was founded on faulty intelligence echoed by Cheney, was the correct path to take. "It represented the right thing to do at that time. I was convinced back then and I maintain that stance today."
But even at the time, there were opposing views at a top tier about the botched execution of Iraq. One of the administration's own delegates to the Middle East, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the post. "I witnessed, at the very least," he wrote later "obvious failure, negligence, and unaccountability: at worst, deception, incompetence, and dishonesty."
Additional Factors
Cheney was not completely responsible for the Iraq invasion. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for comparable steps. He had written a memorandum detailing scenarios in which American interests might be threatened (including "availability of crucial commodities, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "the United States should be postured to act independently when cooperative measures prove impossible," particularly citing military moves against Iraq.
Bush also had arrived in the presidency vaguely intent on implementing what his predecessor had specifically avoided to do in 1991; remove Saddam. After he had been sacked by the White House, the finance chief Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his objective of reducing America's engagement in the Middle East dispute and proposed armed intervention against Iraq.
Bush held a private grievance against Saddam, believing he had been responsible for a scheme to murder his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He also objected to that one of the largest accommodations in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a portrait of his father's visage that each person had to walk over.
Investigation Approaches
Yet it was Cheney who was among the most vociferous advocating invading Iraq, repeatedly citing agency briefings that were whether weak or totally inaccurate. He endorsed what the Bush White House politely called as "intensive questioning", the use of waterboarding and harsh treatment.
Addressing a Senate analysis in 2014 that determined that no actionable intelligence had come from the interrogation methods, Cheney rejected the conclusions as "full of crap". He stated to Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to take steps and establish programmes to catch the perpetrators who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it was not repeated. That was specifically what they did and they merit a lot of recognition."
External Perception
Cheney reveled in monikers imposed on him by detractors such as Darth Vader and the dark figure, and by the concept that he was a shadow power directing Bush. In the journalist'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 malevolent mastermind in the background that operates invisibly emerge from his domain? This represents a advantageous way to function, truthfully."
Commercial Ties
Dispute over his corporate affiliations accompanied him throughout his time as vice-president. Although he had minimal expertise in commerce but good contacts in military, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's biggest oil and gas companies, in 1995 as chairman and CEO.
In 2000 he became Bush's VP candidate for the executive branch. Contentiously, during the military campaign, Halliburton was given US deals valued at multiple billions.
It made him rich. His yearly compensation during his time at the corporation grew from his quarter-million dollars while Pentagon chief to over four million. When he left in 2000 he had a compensation package valued at over $20m|twenty
