The former US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who passed away at age 84, was seen as among the most influential occupants of that office in US history. Whereas many VPs were limited to minor or figurehead functions, Cheney held huge influence during the term of George W Bush, so much so that he was commonly called as the "real president".
Bush resented that description and said the connection was more nuanced. He observed that Cheney was courteous, consistently calling him in public as the President, while he called him as Dick. Bush disputed even descriptions of their partnership as a collaboration because it indicated that they were peers. Regardless of these denials, Cheney considered the easygoing president pliable on a broad range of administrative determinations.
The Period Following the Attacks
In charge of a faction of conservative hawks that included defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the invasion of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the September 11th attacks on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 strike, Bush had been attending a meeting at a school in Florida. While Bush made his way to a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, ordering the downing of any unidentified airplanes heading toward the government building.
Cheney stated the strikes transformed him, making him become intent on retaliation. In conjunction with other neo-conservatives, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a takeover of Afghanistan in an endeavor to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the invasion of Iraq, though there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein playing a role.
Controversial Actions
He expressed no regrets about the invasion, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, and not about the harsh treatment of suspects apprehended after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was founded on inaccurate intelligence echoed by Cheney, was the right path to take. "It represented the right thing to do back then. I had faith back then and I believe it today."
However even then, there were opposing views at a high level about the poor management of Iraq. One of the administration's own delegates to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the position. "I observed, as a baseline," he subsequently stated "obvious failure, negligence, and irresponsibility: at worst, deception, incompetence, and dishonesty."
Broader Context
Cheney was not completely accountable for the Iraq campaign. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for such action. He had drafted a document detailing circumstances in which American interests might be compromised (encompassing "obtaining vital raw materials, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "the US should be prepared to operate alone when collective action prove impossible," particularly mentioning defense operations against Iraq.
Bush additionally had assumed the presidency generally inclined on carrying out what his predecessor had famously refused to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. Subsequent to he had been fired by the White House, the finance chief Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the first meeting of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had announced his plan of reducing America's participation in the Middle East dispute and proposed armed intervention against Iraq.
Bush held a private grievance against Saddam, believing he had been involved in a plot to assassinate his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore disliked that one of the largest accommodations in Baghdad had a ground design with a portrait of his predecessor's face that all visitors had to tread upon.
Investigation Approaches
Yet it was Cheney who was part of the most vociferous behind attacking Iraq, frequently referencing intelligence reports that were whether thin or totally inaccurate. He endorsed what the Bush administration indirectly described as "advanced techniques", the use of interrogation method and torture.
Answering a Senate report in 2014 that determined that no valuable data had resulted from the interrogation methods, Cheney disregarded the findings as "full of crap". He told Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to establish protocols and establish procedures to capture the bastards who took the lives of 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it was not repeated. That was specifically what they did and they earn a lot of praise."
External Perception
Cheney took pleasure in nicknames assigned to him by opponents such as Darth Vader and the dark figure, and by the concept that he was a shadow power manipulating Bush. In the author's 2013 publication about the two, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is reported as stating: "Is it me who is the malevolent mastermind in the corner that remains unseen leave his domain? That is a advantageous way to work, in fact."
Commercial Ties
Dispute over his business interests accompanied him throughout his time as VP. While he had limited background in corporate affairs but established relationships in military, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's biggest petroleum companies, in 1995 as chair and chief executive.
In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's running mate for the White House. Contentiously, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was granted US deals totaling substantial sums.
It greatly increased his wealth. His yearly earnings during his time at the corporation increased from his quarter-million dollars while defence secretary to millions. When he left in 2000 he had a severance arrangement worth in excess of $20m|twenty
