The late US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who passed away at age 84, was regarded as among the most influential incumbents of the vice-presidency in the nation's history. Although many second-in-commands were confined to peripheral or ceremonial positions, Cheney exercised substantial power during the term of George W Bush, to the point that he was frequently referred to as the "actual president".
Bush objected to this portrayal and stated the connection was more complex. He pointed out that Cheney was courteous, always addressing him in public settings as Mr President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush questioned even characterisations of their association as a collaboration because it suggested that they were peers. Regardless of such protestations, Cheney considered the laidback president accommodating on a whole raft of policy decisions.
A Post-9/11 Era
At the head of a faction of neo-cons that featured Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the military intervention of Iraq in 2003 in reaction to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. During of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been participating in a session at a elementary school in Florida. While Bush headed for a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, ordering the shooting down of any non-communicating aircraft heading toward the Capitol building.
Cheney claimed the assaults changed him, causing him to be intent on revenge. In conjunction with other neo-conservatives, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a occupation of Afghanistan in an endeavor to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then pressed fiercely for the military action of Iraq, though there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Disputed Decisions
He voiced no apologies about the invasion, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis perished, or about the enhanced interrogation of detainees captured after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was based on inaccurate reports repeated by Cheney, was the proper decision. "It represented the proper decision to do then. I believed it at the time and I hold that view presently."
However even at the time, there were contrary opinions at a top tier 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 reappointed from the position. "I witnessed, at the very least," he later wrote "obvious failure, inaction, and irresponsibility: at worst, deception, incompetence, and corruption."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not solely accountable for the Iraq invasion. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for comparable steps. He had composed a document outlining scenarios in which US concerns might be compromised (encompassing "obtaining essential resources, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "America should be prepared to operate alone when collective action cannot be orchestrated," explicitly mentioning armed actions against Iraq.
Bush too had entered the presidency somewhat determined on carrying out what his predecessor had notably declined to do in 1991; topple Saddam. Following he had been sacked by the president, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the first meeting of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his plan of lowering America's participation in the Middle East dispute and proposed armed intervention against Iraq.
Bush carried a individual resentment against Saddam, believing he had been behind a plot to assassinate his parent, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He also objected to 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.
Investigation Approaches
Yet it was Cheney who was part of the most vociferous behind invading Iraq, frequently referencing information documents that were both insubstantial or completely misleading. He endorsed what the Bush administration euphemistically referred to as "enhanced interrogation", the use of waterboarding and harsh treatment.
Responding to a Senate report in 2014 that concluded that no actionable intelligence had been obtained through the torture, Cheney rejected the report as "riddled with crap". He stated to Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to establish protocols and put in place initiatives to apprehend the bastards who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it was not repeated. That's exactly what they did and they deserve a lot of credit."
Public Image
Cheney took pleasure in monikers imposed on him by detractors such as the Star Wars villain and the sinister presence, and by the concept that he was a dark force controlling Bush. In the journalist's 2013 publication about the pair, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is cited as commenting: "Am I the malevolent mastermind in the background that operates invisibly emerge from his lair? It's a nice way to operate, in fact."
Corporate Connections
Dispute over his business interests followed him throughout his time as VP. Even though he had little experience in commerce but good contacts in security, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial energy companies, in 1995 as chairman and chief executive.
In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's election partner for the executive branch. Debatably, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was granted US agreements totaling multiple billions.
It greatly increased his wealth. His yearly earnings during his period at the firm rose from his previous salary during his time as defence secretary to $4.4m. When he resigned in 2000 he had a package totaling in excess of $20m|twenty
