The former US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who passed away at the age of 84, was considered among the most influential occupants of that office in US history. Whereas numerous vice-presidents were limited to minor or ceremonial functions, Cheney wielded substantial influence during the administration of George W Bush, to the point that he was commonly called as the "actual president".
Bush resented this portrayal and said the dynamic was more complicated. He noted that Cheney was courteous, invariably referring to him in public as Mr President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush questioned even portrayals of their relationship as a partnership because it indicated that they were on equal footing. Despite these denials, Cheney found the relaxed president pliable on a wide array of policy decisions.
The Post-9/11 Era
Leading of a faction of neo-cons that featured defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the military intervention of Iraq in 2003 in reaction to the September 11th attacks on New York and Washington. During of the 9/11 assault, Bush had been taking part in a gathering at a school in Florida. Whereas Bush headed for a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, commanding the downing of any unidentified aircraft approaching the US Capitol.
Cheney said the strikes altered his perspective, leading him to become determined on revenge. Together with other neo-conservatives, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a takeover of Afghanistan in an effort to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then pressed fiercely for the armed intervention of Iraq, although there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Debated Actions
He voiced no apologies about the invasion, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis perished, or about the harsh treatment of individuals rounded up after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was based on faulty reports repeated by Cheney, was the correct path to take. "It proved to be the proper decision to do back then. I was convinced back then and I believe it today."
But during that period, there were dissenting voices 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 not reappointed from the role. "I observed, as a baseline," he later wrote "obvious failure, negligence, and unaccountability: in the worst case, lying, incompetence, and dishonesty."
Broader Context
Cheney was not entirely responsible for the Iraq campaign. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for comparable steps. He had drafted a document setting out scenarios in which US concerns might be endangered (encompassing "availability of essential resources, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "the US should be prepared to take unilateral action when cooperative measures cannot be arranged," particularly citing military moves against Iraq.
Bush additionally had assumed the White House vaguely intent on carrying out what his father had famously refused to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. Following he had been dismissed by the administration, the finance chief Paul O'Neill disclosed how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had announced his objective of lowering America's engagement in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and mooted armed intervention against Iraq.
Bush bore a personal grudge against Saddam, believing he had been responsible for a plot to kill his parent, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally resented that one of the most prominent hotels in Baghdad had a ground design with a portrait of his parent's visage that everyone had to step on.
Interrogation Methods
However it was Cheney who was one of the most outspoken advocating striking Iraq, frequently citing intelligence reports that were whether insubstantial or entirely misleading. He supported what the Bush administration politely called as "intensive questioning", the employment of simulated drowning and torture.
Responding to a Senate document in 2014 that determined that no actionable intelligence had resulted from the interrogation methods, Cheney disregarded the conclusions as "loaded with crap". He stated to Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to take steps and put in place initiatives to catch the perpetrators who took the lives of 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it never happened again. That's exactly what they did and they earn a lot of credit."
Public Persona
Cheney reveled in labels imposed on him by detractors such as the Star Wars villain and the sinister presence, and by the notion that he was a shadow power controlling 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: "Is it me who is the sinister strategist in the background that operates invisibly emerge from his domain? That is a nice way to operate, truthfully."
Corporate Connections
Controversy over his business interests accompanied him during his tenure as second-in-command. Even though he had minimal expertise in business but good contacts in defence, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's biggest petroleum corporations, in 1995 as chairman and chief executive.
In 2000 he was selected as Bush's election partner for the executive branch. Contentiously, during the military campaign, Halliburton was given US agreements totaling billions.
It greatly increased his wealth. His yearly compensation during his period at the company grew from his previous salary during his time as Pentagon chief to millions. When he resigned in 2000 he had a severance arrangement valued at in excess of $20m|twenty
