The former US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who passed away at age 84, was considered one of the most influential occupants of that position in US history. Whereas numerous VPs were confined to peripheral or ceremonial positions, Cheney held substantial sway during the presidency of George W Bush, to the point that he was frequently described as the "real president".
Bush disliked that description and claimed the dynamic was more complex. He observed that Cheney was courteous, always referring to him in public as President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush questioned even descriptions of their partnership as a team because it suggested that they were on equal footing. In spite of these objections, Cheney viewed the relaxed president malleable on a whole raft of governmental choices.
A Aftermath of 9/11
In charge of a contingent of neo-conservatives that included Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in response to the September 11th attacks on New York and Washington. At the time of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been attending a meeting at a educational institution in Florida. Whereas Bush headed for a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, directing the destruction of any unresponsive aircraft approaching the Capitol building.
Cheney stated the strikes transformed him, making him become determined on revenge. Along with other neo-cons, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a occupation of Afghanistan in an endeavor to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the armed intervention of Iraq, even though there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein playing a role.
Disputed Policies
He showed no remorse about the invasion, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis perished, and not about the harsh treatment of detainees apprehended after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was founded on inaccurate reports repeated by Cheney, was the proper course of action. "It proved to be the correct action to do back then. I believed it back then and I believe it presently."
But even then, there were contrary opinions at a top tier about the poor management of Iraq. One of the White House's own representatives to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the role. "I witnessed, at the very least," he later wrote "obvious failure, negligence, and irresponsibility: potentially, deception, ineptitude, and dishonesty."
Additional Factors
Cheney was not completely responsible for the Iraq campaign. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for similar measures. He had composed a memo outlining situations in which national priorities might be endangered (encompassing "access to crucial commodities, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "the United States should be prepared to act independently when joint efforts cannot be arranged," specifically citing military moves against Iraq.
Bush also had arrived in the presidency vaguely intent on carrying out what his father had famously refused to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. After he had been sacked by the administration, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his intention of diminishing America's participation in the regional tensions and mooted armed intervention against Iraq.
Bush bore a private grievance against Saddam, thinking he had been involved in a conspiracy to assassinate his parent, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore resented that one of the largest accommodations in Baghdad had a floor mural with a image of his parent's face that all visitors had to step on.
Questioning Techniques
Yet it was Cheney who was part of the most outspoken advocating striking Iraq, repeatedly quoting information documents that were whether insubstantial or completely misleading. He backed what the Bush White House indirectly described as "intensive questioning", the use of interrogation method and harsh treatment.
Answering a Senate report in 2014 that determined that no actionable intelligence had been obtained through the interrogation methods, Cheney rejected the findings as "full of crap". He informed Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to take steps and create procedures to capture the bastards who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it would not recur. That was specifically what they did and they earn a lot of credit."
External Perception
Cheney took pleasure in labels assigned to him by detractors such as the dark character and the dark figure, and by the idea that he was a sinister influence manipulating Bush. In the author's 2013 publication about the pair, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is cited as commenting: "Am I the evil genius in the corner that operates invisibly leave his hole? It's a effective way to operate, actually."
Corporate Connections
Debate over his commercial relationships pursued him throughout his time as second-in-command. While he had minimal expertise in corporate affairs but strong connections in defence, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's biggest petroleum companies, in 1995 as leader and chief executive.
In 2000 he became Bush's running mate for the presidency. Contentiously, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was awarded US agreements worth multiple billions.
It significantly boosted his finances. His yearly compensation during his tenure at the corporation grew from his $258,394 during his time as military head to millions. When he resigned in 2000 he had a package totaling more than $20m|twenty
