The deceased US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who passed away at age 84, was seen as one of the most influential holders of that position in US history. Although numerous VPs were confined to peripheral or ceremonial roles, Cheney wielded substantial sway during the term of George W Bush, to the point that he was commonly referred to as the "true president".
Bush resented that description and stated the relationship was more complicated. He pointed out that Cheney was respectful, invariably addressing him in public as the President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush questioned even portrayals of their relationship as a collaboration because it implied that they were on equal footing. Regardless of these objections, Cheney considered the laidback president pliable on a wide array of administrative determinations.
The Period Following the Attacks
Leading of a group of conservative hawks that included Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the invasion of Iraq in 2003 in reaction to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. During of the 9/11 strike, Bush had been participating in a gathering at a school in Florida. Whereas Bush made his way to a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, commanding the shooting down of any non-communicating planes approaching the government building.
Cheney stated the assaults transformed him, making him become focused on retaliation. In conjunction with other neo-conservatives, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a takeover of Afghanistan in an endeavor to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the invasion of Iraq, though there was little proof of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Disputed Actions
He showed no remorse about the military campaign, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis perished, and not about the waterboarding of individuals rounded up after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was predicated on inaccurate reports echoed by Cheney, was the right path to take. "It proved to be the proper decision to do then. I believed it then and I maintain that stance today."
Yet even then, there were opposing views at a top tier about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the White House's own representatives to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the position. "I saw, at a minimum," he subsequently stated "obvious failure, negligence, and irresponsibility: potentially, lying, ineptitude, and dishonesty."
Broader Context
Cheney was not completely to blame for the Iraq invasion. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for comparable steps. He had drafted a memorandum detailing scenarios in which American interests might be threatened (encompassing "access to vital raw materials, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "the US should be prepared to take unilateral action when collective action cannot be arranged," explicitly citing defense operations against Iraq.
Bush too had arrived in the Oval Office vaguely intent on carrying out what his parent had notably declined to do in 1991; remove Saddam. Subsequent to he had been sacked by the president, the finance chief Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his plan of reducing America's engagement in the Middle East dispute and proposed military action against Iraq.
Bush carried a private grievance against Saddam, thinking he had been involved in a scheme to kill his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a trip 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 visage that all visitors had to step on.
Interrogation Methods
But it was Cheney who was among the most vociferous advocating invading Iraq, frequently quoting intelligence reports that were both insubstantial or totally deceptive. He backed what the Bush White House euphemistically referred to as "advanced techniques", the employment of waterboarding and torture.
Addressing a Senate analysis in 2014 that found that no valuable data had come from the harsh techniques, Cheney disregarded the findings as "full of crap". He informed Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to implement measures and establish programmes to apprehend the perpetrators who took the lives of 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it would not recur. That's exactly what they did and they earn a lot of recognition."
Public Image
Cheney took pleasure in monikers imposed on him by opponents such as the dark character and the sinister presence, and by the notion that he was a sinister influence directing Bush. In the journalist's 2013 book about the pair, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is reported as stating: "Is it me who is the sinister strategist in the background that remains unseen emerge from his lair? It's a effective way to operate, in fact."
Corporate Connections
Debate over his commercial relationships followed him during his tenure as second-in-command. Even though he had minimal expertise in corporate affairs but strong connections in military, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's biggest oil and gas conglomerates, in 1995 as leader and top executive.
In 2000 he was selected as Bush's VP candidate for the presidency. Debatably, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was given US deals valued at billions.
It made him rich. His annual income during his time at the firm rose from his quarter-million dollars when he was Pentagon chief to over four million. When he departed in 2000 he had a severance arrangement totaling in excess of $20m|twenty
