The late US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who passed away at age 84, was regarded as among the most powerful occupants of that office in American history. Whereas numerous vice-presidents had to settle for minor or ceremonial functions, Cheney wielded enormous sway during the term of George W Bush, to the point that he was commonly referred to as the "true president".
Bush objected to this portrayal and stated the relationship was more complex. He observed that Cheney was courteous, consistently addressing him in public settings as the President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush challenged even descriptions of their relationship as a team because it indicated that they were peers. Regardless of these objections, Cheney considered the relaxed president pliable on a broad range of governmental choices.
A Aftermath of 9/11
In charge of a faction of neo-cons that encompassed military head Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the military intervention of Iraq in 2003 in response to the September 11th attacks on New York and Washington. During of the 9/11 assault, Bush had been attending a meeting at a school in Florida. Whereas Bush traveled to a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney took command, commanding the shooting down of any unidentified airplanes nearing the government building.
Cheney said the strikes transformed him, making him become focused on revenge. In conjunction with other neo-cons, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a occupation of Afghanistan in an endeavor to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the invasion of Iraq, even though there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein having involvement.
Disputed Actions
He expressed no regrets about the armed intervention, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis died, and not about the harsh treatment of suspects rounded up after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was founded on faulty information circulated by Cheney, was the proper course of action. "It proved to be the proper decision to do back then. I believed it back then and I maintain that stance presently."
However even at the time, there were opposing views at a senior level about the poor management of Iraq. One of the administration's own delegates to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the role. "I witnessed, as a baseline," he wrote later "true dereliction, negligence, and unaccountability: in the worst case, falsehoods, ineptitude, and corruption."
Additional Factors
Cheney was not solely responsible for the Iraq campaign. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for comparable steps. He had composed a document outlining circumstances in which American interests might be compromised (encompassing "access to vital raw materials, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "the US should be positioned to act independently when joint efforts cannot be orchestrated," particularly referencing military moves against Iraq.
Bush too had assumed the White House generally inclined on carrying out what his predecessor had famously refused to do in 1991; topple Saddam. Following he had been fired by the White House, the finance chief Paul O'Neill disclosed how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his objective of reducing America's engagement in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and suggested defense operations against Iraq.
Bush carried a personal grudge against Saddam, believing he had been involved in a conspiracy to assassinate his father, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore objected to that one of the largest hotels in Baghdad had a floor mural with a image of his predecessor's visage that each person had to walk over.
Investigation Approaches
But it was Cheney who was one of the most outspoken behind invading Iraq, repeatedly quoting intelligence reports that were whether weak or completely deceptive. He endorsed what the Bush government euphemistically referred to as "enhanced interrogation", the application of interrogation method and harsh treatment.
Answering a Senate analysis in 2014 that concluded that no actionable intelligence had come from the harsh techniques, Cheney disregarded the report as "full of crap". He stated to Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to implement measures and create procedures to apprehend the individuals who took the lives of 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it never happened again. That's exactly what they did and they merit a lot of recognition."
External Perception
Cheney took pleasure in nicknames imposed on him by critics such as Darth Vader and the dark figure, and by the idea that he was a sinister influence manipulating Bush. In Peter Baker's 2013 book about the pair, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is reported as stating: "Am I the malevolent mastermind in the corner that nobody ever sees leave his hole? That is a effective way to operate, in fact."
Corporate Connections
Debate over his corporate affiliations pursued him throughout his time as vice-president. Even though he had little experience in commerce but good contacts in security, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's largest oil and gas conglomerates, in 1995 as chair and CEO.
In 2000 he became Bush's running mate for the White House. Contentiously, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was granted US agreements totaling substantial sums.
It significantly boosted his finances. His annual income during his period at the corporation increased from his $258,394 while defence secretary to millions. When he departed in 2000 he had a package worth more than $20m|twenty
