The former US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who passed away at age 84, was regarded as one of the most powerful incumbents of the vice-presidency in American history. Although many second-in-commands were confined to marginal or figurehead roles, Cheney wielded enormous sway during the term of George W Bush, so much so that he was frequently described as the "real president".
Bush disliked that description and stated the dynamic was more nuanced. He pointed out that Cheney was courteous, always calling him in official appearances as Mr President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush challenged even portrayals of their association as a team because it indicated that they were equals. Despite such protestations, Cheney viewed the laidback president accommodating on a broad range of governmental choices.
The Period Following the Attacks
In charge of a group of neo-cons that featured military head Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in reaction to the September 11th attacks on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been taking part in a meeting at a elementary school in Florida. As Bush headed for a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney took command, ordering the downing of any unresponsive aircraft approaching the US Capitol.
Cheney said the attacks changed him, leading him to become intent on revenge. Together with other conservative figures, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a occupation of Afghanistan in an effort to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then pressed fiercely for the armed intervention of Iraq, though there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein playing a role.
Controversial Policies
He showed no remorse about the military campaign, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis perished, nor about the harsh treatment of individuals captured after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was founded on faulty reports circulated by Cheney, was the correct decision. "It proved to be the right thing to do then. I had faith at the time and I believe it presently."
But during that period, there were opposing views at a top tier about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the government's own representatives to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the post. "I witnessed, as a baseline," he wrote later "obvious failure, inaction, and unaccountability: in the worst case, falsehoods, ineptitude, and graft."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not entirely accountable for the Iraq invasion. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for similar measures. He had composed a memorandum outlining situations in which American interests might be compromised (encompassing "availability of essential resources, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "the United States should be positioned to take unilateral action when joint efforts prove impossible," explicitly referencing military moves against Iraq.
Bush additionally had entered the Oval Office somewhat determined on implementing what his father had specifically avoided to do in 1991; topple Saddam. After he had been dismissed by the president, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the first meeting of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had announced his plan of lowering America's participation in the Middle East dispute and mooted armed intervention against Iraq.
Bush held a personal grudge against Saddam, convinced he had been involved in a scheme to murder his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore objected to that one of the biggest establishments in Baghdad had a floor mural with a likeness of his father's visage that all visitors had to step on.
Investigation Approaches
Yet it was Cheney who was among the most outspoken advocating invading Iraq, repeatedly citing agency briefings that were whether thin or entirely misleading. He supported what the Bush government euphemistically referred to as "advanced techniques", the application of waterboarding and torture.
Responding to a Senate document in 2014 that determined that no useful information had resulted from the torture, Cheney rejected the findings as "loaded with crap". He stated to Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to establish protocols and create procedures to apprehend the bastards who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it would not recur. That is precisely what they did and they deserve a lot of credit."
External Perception
Cheney enjoyed monikers imposed on him by detractors such as the Star Wars villain and the sinister presence, and by the concept that he was a sinister influence controlling Bush. In Peter Baker's 2013 publication about the two, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is quoted as saying: "Am I the evil genius in the shadows that remains unseen leave his hole? It's a effective way to operate, actually."
Business Interests
Controversy over his business interests followed him throughout his time as second-in-command. Although he had limited background in corporate affairs but good contacts in security, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial petroleum companies, in 1995 as chair and chief executive.
In 2000 he became Bush's running mate for the presidency. Contentiously, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was granted US deals valued at billions.
It greatly increased his wealth. His yearly earnings during his tenure at the company rose from his previous salary when he was Pentagon chief to millions. When he departed in 2000 he had a severance arrangement worth over $20m|twenty
