The deceased US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who died at age 84, was regarded as among the most significant incumbents of the vice-presidency in the nation's history. While many VPs had to settle for marginal or symbolic functions, Cheney wielded huge influence during the presidency of George W Bush, so much so that he was frequently described as the "real president".
Bush objected to that description and claimed the relationship was more complicated. He observed that Cheney was courteous, invariably calling him in public settings as Mr President, while he called him as Dick. Bush questioned even descriptions of their relationship as a team because it indicated that they were on equal footing. Regardless of such protestations, Cheney found the laidback president malleable on a whole raft of governmental choices.
The Aftermath of 9/11
Leading of a contingent of conservative hawks that included Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the military intervention of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. During of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been attending a gathering at a educational institution in Florida. While Bush made his way to a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, commanding the shooting down of any unresponsive aircraft approaching the US Capitol.
Cheney stated the attacks changed him, making him become focused on revenge. In conjunction with other neo-cons, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a invasion of Afghanistan in an effort to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the invasion of Iraq, though there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein playing a role.
Controversial Decisions
He voiced no apologies about the military campaign, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis perished, or about the waterboarding of detainees rounded up after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was founded on faulty information repeated by Cheney, was the right path to take. "It proved to be the right thing to do at that time. I had faith back then and I hold that view now."
Yet even at the time, there were opposing views at a high level about the poor management of Iraq. One of the administration's own special envoys to the Middle East, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the post. "I observed, at a minimum," he later wrote "obvious failure, carelessness, and irresponsibility: potentially, falsehoods, ineptitude, and dishonesty."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not solely responsible for the Iraq military action. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for similar measures. He had composed a memorandum outlining scenarios in which US concerns might be compromised (featuring "availability of vital raw materials, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "the US should be prepared to operate alone when joint efforts cannot be orchestrated," explicitly referencing military moves against Iraq.
Bush too had arrived in the White House somewhat determined on implementing what his predecessor had notably declined to do in 1991; topple Saddam. Subsequent to he had been sacked by the administration, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his intention of lowering America's engagement in the Middle East dispute and mooted military action against Iraq.
Bush carried a personal grudge against Saddam, thinking he had been behind a conspiracy to assassinate his father, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore resented that one of the most prominent accommodations in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a image of his predecessor's countenance that all visitors had to step on.
Investigation Approaches
But it was Cheney who was part of the most outspoken behind attacking Iraq, repeatedly citing intelligence reports that were both weak or entirely inaccurate. He endorsed what the Bush administration politely called as "enhanced interrogation", the use of simulated drowning and torture.
Answering a Senate document in 2014 that found that no actionable intelligence had come from the harsh techniques, Cheney disregarded the findings as "full of crap". He told Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to establish protocols and create initiatives to capture the perpetrators who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it would not recur. That was specifically what they did and they merit a lot of credit."
External Perception
Cheney reveled in nicknames assigned to him by critics such as the dark character and The Prince of Darkness, and by the notion that he was a shadow power directing Bush. In the author's 2013 volume about the two, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is cited as commenting: "Do I represent the sinister strategist in the corner that operates invisibly leave his lair? It's a nice way to work, in fact."
Corporate Connections
Controversy over his commercial relationships accompanied him during his tenure as VP. Even though he had little experience in corporate affairs but strong connections in defence, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial oil and gas corporations, in 1995 as chairman and CEO.
In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's election partner for the White House. Controversially, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was given US agreements worth multiple billions.
It significantly boosted his finances. His yearly earnings during his tenure at the company grew from his $258,394 while Pentagon chief to over four million. When he left in 2000 he had a compensation package valued at in excess of $20m|twenty
