The late US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who died at the age of 84, was considered one of the most influential incumbents of that position in the nation's history. While many VPs were limited to minor or symbolic positions, Cheney wielded huge sway during the term of George W Bush, to the point that he was commonly called as the "real president".
Bush resented that description and claimed the relationship was more complicated. He pointed out that Cheney was courteous, always addressing him in public settings as President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush disputed even characterisations of their partnership as a team because it indicated that they were on equal footing. In spite of these objections, Cheney found the relaxed president malleable on a broad range of governmental choices.
A Aftermath of 9/11
In charge of a contingent of neo-cons that included Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in response to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 strike, 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 command, ordering the shooting down of any non-communicating airplanes heading toward the Capitol building.
Cheney claimed the strikes changed him, leading him to become focused on revenge. In conjunction with other neo-cons, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a occupation of Afghanistan in an effort to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the military action of Iraq, though there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Disputed Decisions
He voiced no apologies about the military campaign, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis died, or about the waterboarding of individuals rounded up after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was predicated on faulty intelligence circulated by Cheney, was the proper course of action. "It represented the proper decision to do at that time. I had faith at the time and I hold that view today."
However even then, there were dissenting voices at a high level about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the White House's own special envoys to the Middle East, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the post. "I saw, at the very least," he wrote later "clear negligence, carelessness, and irresponsibility: potentially, deception, incompetence, and dishonesty."
Broader Context
Cheney was not entirely to blame for the Iraq invasion. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for similar measures. He had drafted a memo detailing situations in which national priorities might be endangered (including "availability of vital raw materials, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "the US should be postured to take unilateral action when joint efforts cannot be arranged," explicitly mentioning military moves against Iraq.
Bush too had arrived in the Oval Office vaguely intent on executing what his predecessor had notably declined to do in 1991; remove Saddam. After he had been dismissed by the White House, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his plan of lowering America's participation in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and mooted military action against Iraq.
Bush carried a individual resentment against Saddam, convinced he had been responsible for a scheme to assassinate his father, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally disliked that one of the biggest accommodations in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a image of his parent's face that all visitors had to step on.
Investigation Approaches
However it was Cheney who was one of the most vociferous advocating striking Iraq, frequently citing information documents that were either thin or completely inaccurate. He endorsed what the Bush government euphemistically referred to as "advanced techniques", the use of waterboarding and torture.
Answering a Senate document in 2014 that found that no useful information had been obtained through the harsh techniques, Cheney rejected the report as "riddled with crap". He stated to Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to establish protocols and put in place initiatives to capture the perpetrators who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it was not repeated. That's exactly what they did and they deserve a lot of recognition."
Public Image
Cheney reveled in nicknames imposed on him by opponents such as the dark character and the sinister presence, 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 quoted as saying: "Am I the malevolent mastermind in the corner that operates invisibly emerge from his domain? It's a nice way to function, truthfully."
Business Interests
Debate over his corporate affiliations pursued him through his period as vice-president. Although he had minimal expertise in business but strong connections in military, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial petroleum companies, in 1995 as chair and chief executive.
In 2000 he was selected as Bush's VP candidate for the White House. Contentiously, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was given US deals worth multiple billions.
It made him rich. His annual income during his time at the firm rose from his quarter-million dollars during his time as defence secretary to over four million. When he resigned in 2000 he had a compensation package totaling in excess of $20m|twenty
