The deceased US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who passed away at the age of 84, was considered one of the most influential occupants of the vice-presidency in the nation's history. Whereas many VPs were confined to minor or symbolic functions, Cheney wielded enormous sway during the term of George W Bush, to the point that he was commonly referred to as the "actual president".
Bush disliked this portrayal and claimed the connection was more complex. He observed that Cheney was deferential, consistently calling him in official appearances as Mr President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush disputed even characterisations of their association as a team because it indicated that they were on equal footing. In spite of these denials, Cheney found the easygoing president accommodating on a wide array of administrative determinations.
A Aftermath of 9/11
At the head of a faction of conservative hawks that featured Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the military intervention of Iraq in 2003 in reaction to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. At the time of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been attending a session at a elementary school in Florida. Whereas Bush traveled to a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney took command, ordering the shooting down of any unresponsive aircraft nearing the Capitol building.
Cheney claimed the strikes changed him, causing him to be determined on retaliation. Along with other neo-cons, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a occupation of Afghanistan in an attempt to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then pressed fiercely for the armed intervention of Iraq, even though there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein having involvement.
Debated Decisions
He voiced no apologies about the invasion, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis perished, nor about the enhanced interrogation of suspects captured after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was founded on faulty intelligence echoed by Cheney, was the proper course of action. "It represented the proper decision to do back then. I believed it at the time and I believe it today."
However even at the time, there were opposing views at a high level about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the administration's own special envoys to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the role. "I saw, at the very least," he subsequently stated "obvious failure, carelessness, and irresponsibility: at worst, deception, unfitness, and dishonesty."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not completely responsible for the Iraq invasion. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for such action. He had written a document outlining scenarios in which American interests might be compromised (encompassing "access to vital raw materials, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "the US should be prepared to act independently when joint efforts cannot be arranged," particularly citing armed actions against Iraq.
Bush additionally had arrived in the presidency generally inclined on executing what his father had specifically avoided to do in 1991; remove Saddam. After he had been sacked by the president, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill disclosed 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 mooted military action against Iraq.
Bush carried a personal grudge against Saddam, convinced he had been involved in a scheme to assassinate his parent, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally disliked that one of the largest hotels in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a image of his predecessor's face that all visitors had to walk over.
Interrogation Methods
However it was Cheney who was among the most outspoken advocating striking Iraq, consistently referencing agency briefings that were both insubstantial or completely deceptive. He backed what the Bush administration euphemistically referred to as "enhanced interrogation", the employment of waterboarding and harsh treatment.
Addressing a Senate report in 2014 that found that no actionable intelligence had come from the harsh techniques, Cheney rejected the findings as "full of crap". He stated to Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to establish protocols and create initiatives to apprehend the perpetrators who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it was not repeated. That was specifically what they did and they deserve a lot of praise."
Public Image
Cheney took pleasure in monikers given to him by detractors such as the Star Wars villain and the dark figure, and by the concept that he was a shadow power directing Bush. In the author's 2013 publication about the pair, 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 shadows that remains unseen leave his lair? This represents a advantageous way to function, in fact."
Corporate Connections
Dispute over his commercial relationships accompanied him during his tenure as second-in-command. Even though he had little experience in commerce but strong connections in military, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's biggest petroleum conglomerates, in 1995 as chair and CEO.
In 2000 he was selected as Bush's election partner for the executive branch. Debatably, during the military campaign, Halliburton was granted US agreements worth substantial sums.
It greatly increased his wealth. His annual income during his period at the corporation grew from his quarter-million dollars while military head to millions. When he departed in 2000 he had a severance arrangement valued at more than $20m|twenty
