The former US VP Dick Cheney, who passed away at the age of 84, was regarded as among the most influential occupants of that position in the nation's history. While numerous second-in-commands were limited to minor or figurehead functions, Cheney wielded huge influence during the presidency of George W Bush, so much so that he was frequently described as the "actual president".
Bush objected to this portrayal and claimed the dynamic was more complex. He noted that Cheney was deferential, invariably referring to him in public settings as the President, while he called him as Dick. Bush questioned even descriptions of their association as a collaboration because it suggested that they were peers. Regardless of these objections, Cheney viewed the relaxed president accommodating on a wide array of administrative determinations.
A Aftermath of 9/11
In charge of a group of neo-conservatives that encompassed military head Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in response to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. During of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been attending a meeting at a educational institution in Florida. As Bush made his way to a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney took command, commanding the destruction of any non-communicating planes heading toward the government building.
Cheney stated the attacks altered his perspective, leading him to become intent on revenge. Along with other conservative figures, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a occupation of Afghanistan in an attempt to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the military action of Iraq, even though there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein playing a role.
Debated Policies
He voiced no apologies about the invasion, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, nor about the waterboarding of individuals apprehended after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was founded on misleading intelligence echoed by Cheney, was the right path to take. "It proved to be the right thing to do back then. I had faith back then and I hold that view now."
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 representatives to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the post. "I witnessed, at the very least," he subsequently stated "true dereliction, inaction, and recklessness: at worst, falsehoods, unfitness, and dishonesty."
Additional Factors
Cheney was not entirely to blame for the Iraq invasion. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for comparable steps. He had written a memorandum setting out situations in which US concerns might be threatened (including "access to vital raw materials, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "the United States should be postured to act independently when collective action cannot be arranged," specifically referencing defense operations against Iraq.
Bush also had entered the White House generally inclined on implementing what his parent had specifically avoided to do in 1991; remove Saddam. Subsequent to he had been sacked by the administration, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill disclosed how, at the first meeting of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had announced his plan of diminishing America's involvement in the Middle East dispute and mooted military action against Iraq.
Bush carried a private grievance against Saddam, believing he had been behind a plot to kill his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally objected to that one of the largest accommodations in Baghdad had a ground design with a portrait of his parent's face that each person had to step on.
Investigation Approaches
Yet it was Cheney who was one of the most vehement behind invading Iraq, frequently referencing intelligence reports that were both weak or entirely inaccurate. He endorsed what the Bush government euphemistically referred to as "enhanced interrogation", the application of interrogation method and physical pressure.
Responding to a Senate report in 2014 that concluded that no useful information had been obtained through the interrogation methods, Cheney disregarded the report as "riddled with crap". He informed Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to establish protocols and establish procedures to catch the perpetrators who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it would not recur. That was specifically what they did and they deserve a lot of recognition."
Public Image
Cheney took pleasure in nicknames imposed on him by detractors 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 volume 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 operates invisibly come out of his lair? That is a nice way to function, in fact."
Commercial Ties
Debate over his business interests accompanied him through his period as vice-president. Although he had minimal expertise in corporate affairs but strong connections in security, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's biggest petroleum corporations, in 1995 as chairman and chief executive.
In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's election partner for the presidency. Controversially, during the military campaign, Halliburton was given US contracts totaling billions.
It significantly boosted his finances. His yearly compensation during his time at the firm grew from his $258,394 while Pentagon chief to millions. When he resigned in 2000 he had a severance arrangement valued at more than $20m|twenty
