The late US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who passed away at the age of 84, was seen as arguably the most influential occupants of the vice-presidency in the nation's history. While many VPs were confined to peripheral or symbolic roles, Cheney held enormous sway during the presidency of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was frequently referred to as the "real president".
Bush resented such a characterisation and claimed the relationship was more nuanced. He observed that Cheney was deferential, always calling him in public settings as President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush questioned even portrayals of their partnership as a collaboration because it indicated that they were peers. In spite of such protestations, Cheney considered the laidback president accommodating on a wide array of governmental choices.
The Period Following the Attacks
In charge of a group of neo-conservatives that featured defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the military intervention of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. During of the 9/11 assault, Bush had been attending a meeting at a school in Florida. While Bush traveled to a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, directing the downing of any non-communicating planes heading toward the US Capitol.
Cheney stated the attacks transformed him, making him become focused on retribution. In conjunction with other neo-conservatives, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a invasion of Afghanistan in an effort to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the invasion of Iraq, though there was little proof of Saddam Hussein playing a role.
Disputed Actions
He expressed no regrets about the invasion, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis perished, and not about the enhanced interrogation of individuals apprehended after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was founded on misleading information echoed by Cheney, was the proper decision. "It was the correct action to do at that time. I believed it at the time and I believe it today."
But even then, there were contrary opinions at a high level about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the White House's own representatives to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the position. "I saw, at the very least," he wrote later "obvious failure, inaction, and unaccountability: potentially, falsehoods, ineptitude, and graft."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not entirely responsible for the Iraq invasion. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for such action. He had written a document outlining circumstances in which US concerns might be threatened (including "obtaining essential resources, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "the United States should be prepared to take unilateral action when joint efforts prove impossible," specifically citing armed actions against Iraq.
Bush additionally had entered the Oval Office generally inclined on executing what his parent had notably declined to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. After he had been sacked by the White House, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill disclosed how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had announced his plan of diminishing America's involvement in the Middle East dispute and suggested armed intervention against Iraq.
Bush held a individual resentment against Saddam, thinking he had been responsible for a plot to kill his parent, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally disliked that one of the largest hotels in Baghdad had a ground design with a likeness of his predecessor's countenance that everyone had to walk over.
Investigation Approaches
But it was Cheney who was among the most outspoken advocating invading Iraq, frequently citing agency briefings that were whether insubstantial or totally deceptive. He backed what the Bush administration euphemistically referred to as "enhanced interrogation", the employment of interrogation method and physical pressure.
Answering a Senate document in 2014 that concluded that no actionable intelligence had been obtained through the torture, Cheney disregarded the conclusions as "riddled with crap". He stated to Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to establish protocols and create programmes to apprehend the bastards who took the lives of 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it would not recur. That was specifically what they did and they merit a lot of recognition."
External Perception
Cheney reveled in labels given to him by critics such as the Star Wars villain and the dark figure, and by the idea that he was a sinister influence directing Bush. In the journalist's 2013 publication about the duo, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is cited as commenting: "Do I represent the malevolent mastermind in the corner that operates invisibly leave his domain? That is a nice way to operate, truthfully."
Corporate Connections
Controversy over his corporate affiliations accompanied him through his period as vice-president. Although he had minimal expertise in corporate affairs but strong connections in military, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial energy corporations, in 1995 as chairman and CEO.
In 2000 he was selected as Bush's running mate for the executive branch. Debatably, during the military campaign, Halliburton was given US deals valued at multiple billions.
It significantly boosted his finances. His annual income during his time at the firm increased from his $258,394 when he was Pentagon chief to over four million. When he resigned in 2000 he had a package worth more than $20m|twenty
