The former US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who died at the age of 84, was considered one of the most influential incumbents of that office in US history. While numerous vice-presidents were limited to peripheral or figurehead positions, Cheney exercised substantial sway during the administration of George W Bush, to the point that he was commonly referred to as the "true president".
Bush resented such a characterisation and claimed the connection was more complex. He observed that Cheney was deferential, consistently calling him in public as President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush challenged even descriptions of their relationship as a partnership because it suggested that they were peers. In spite of these objections, Cheney considered the relaxed president malleable on a broad range of administrative determinations.
A Aftermath of 9/11
Leading of a contingent of conservative hawks that included Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the invasion of Iraq in 2003 in reaction to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. During of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been taking part in a meeting at a school in Florida. While Bush traveled to a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, ordering the destruction of any unresponsive aircraft nearing the US Capitol.
Cheney stated the attacks changed him, making him become determined on revenge. In conjunction with other neo-conservatives, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a invasion of Afghanistan in an attempt to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then pressed fiercely for the invasion of Iraq, though there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein playing a role.
Disputed Decisions
He expressed no regrets about the military campaign, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis perished, and not about the harsh treatment of individuals captured after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was predicated on misleading information circulated by Cheney, was the right decision. "It was the correct action to do then. I had faith back then and I maintain that stance today."
Yet during that period, there were dissenting voices at a senior level about the botched execution of Iraq. One of the White House's own delegates to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the post. "I witnessed, at the very least," he wrote later "obvious failure, inaction, and recklessness: at worst, lying, incompetence, and graft."
Additional Factors
Cheney was not solely accountable for the Iraq campaign. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for such action. He had drafted a memo outlining situations in which American interests might be compromised (encompassing "obtaining essential resources, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "America should be positioned to operate alone when joint efforts cannot be orchestrated," particularly citing defense operations against Iraq.
Bush also had arrived in the White House somewhat determined on executing what his parent had notably declined to do in 1991; remove Saddam. Subsequent to he had been fired by the administration, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the first meeting of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his objective of reducing America's engagement in the Middle East dispute and mooted armed intervention against Iraq.
Bush held a private grievance against Saddam, thinking he had been responsible for a plot to assassinate his father, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally objected to that one of the biggest establishments in Baghdad had a floor mural with a likeness of his predecessor's visage that everyone had to step on.
Investigation Approaches
Yet it was Cheney who was one of the most vehement behind striking Iraq, repeatedly referencing agency briefings that were both weak or entirely inaccurate. He endorsed what the Bush White House politely called as "advanced techniques", the use of simulated drowning and torture.
Responding to a Senate document in 2014 that concluded that no actionable intelligence had been obtained through the harsh techniques, Cheney rejected the findings as "full of crap". He informed Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to implement measures and put in place procedures to capture the perpetrators who took the lives of 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it was not repeated. That is precisely what they did and they earn a lot of praise."
Public Image
Cheney took pleasure in nicknames assigned to him by critics such as Darth Vader and the sinister presence, and by the idea that he was a sinister influence manipulating Bush. In Peter Baker's 2013 book about the duo, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is reported as stating: "Is it me who is the evil genius in the background that nobody ever sees leave his domain? This represents a effective way to work, in fact."
Business Interests
Controversy over his business interests accompanied him during his tenure as second-in-command. Even though he had limited background in corporate affairs but established relationships in defence, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's largest energy corporations, in 1995 as leader and chief executive.
In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's VP candidate for the executive branch. Debatably, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was awarded US contracts totaling substantial sums.
It greatly increased his wealth. His yearly compensation during his time at the corporation increased from his previous salary during his time as military head to over four million. When he resigned in 2000 he had a compensation package worth over $20m|twenty
