The deceased US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who died at the age of 84, was regarded as arguably the most influential holders of the vice-presidency in American history. While countless VPs had to settle for minor or symbolic functions, Cheney held substantial influence during the presidency of George W Bush, so much so that he was often called as the "true president".
Bush resented that description and said the connection was more nuanced. He observed that Cheney was deferential, invariably referring to him in public as Mr President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush disputed even portrayals of their partnership as a collaboration because it implied that they were peers. Regardless of such protestations, Cheney found the laidback president pliable on a broad range of governmental choices.
A Aftermath of 9/11
Leading of a group of neo-cons that included defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the invasion of Iraq in 2003 in response to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. At the time of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been attending a session at a educational institution in Florida. As Bush traveled to a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, ordering the downing of any non-communicating planes heading toward the government building.
Cheney said the strikes changed him, causing him to be intent on revenge. Along with other neo-conservatives, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a takeover of Afghanistan in an endeavor to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the military action of Iraq, though there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein having involvement.
Controversial Decisions
He expressed no regrets about the armed intervention, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, nor about the waterboarding of suspects rounded up after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was based on inaccurate reports echoed by Cheney, was the correct decision. "It was the correct action to do then. I believed it back then and I believe it presently."
Yet even then, there were dissenting voices at a high level about the poor management of Iraq. One of the White House's own special envoys to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the role. "I saw, at the very least," he subsequently stated "true dereliction, carelessness, and recklessness: at worst, falsehoods, unfitness, and graft."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not entirely responsible for the Iraq military action. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for such action. He had composed a memorandum outlining circumstances in which US concerns might be endangered (including "obtaining essential resources, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "America should be postured to take unilateral action when joint efforts prove impossible," explicitly mentioning defense operations against Iraq.
Bush additionally had entered the presidency somewhat determined on executing what his predecessor had famously refused to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. After he had been sacked by the White House, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his plan of diminishing America's engagement in the regional tensions and mooted defense operations against Iraq.
Bush carried a personal grudge against Saddam, convinced he had been involved in a conspiracy to assassinate his parent, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He also resented that one of the most prominent accommodations in Baghdad had a floor mural with a portrait of his predecessor's visage that all visitors had to walk over.
Investigation Approaches
However it was Cheney who was part of the most vociferous behind striking Iraq, frequently quoting intelligence reports that were both thin or totally misleading. He backed what the Bush White House politely called as "intensive questioning", the use of waterboarding and torture.
Addressing a Senate document in 2014 that found that no valuable data had come from the interrogation methods, Cheney rejected the report as "full of crap". He stated to Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to implement measures and put in place programmes to capture the individuals who murdered 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 recognition."
Public Image
Cheney reveled in labels assigned to him by opponents such as the Star Wars villain and the dark figure, and by the concept that he was a shadow power controlling Bush. In the journalist's 2013 publication about the duo, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is reported as stating: "Do I represent the evil genius in the shadows that nobody ever sees emerge from his domain? That is a nice way to operate, truthfully."
Corporate Connections
Controversy over his commercial relationships accompanied him throughout his time as VP. Even though he had little experience in corporate affairs but good contacts in defence, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial oil and gas companies, in 1995 as chair and CEO.
In 2000 he was selected as Bush's election partner for the presidency. Contentiously, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was granted US contracts valued at billions.
It made him rich. His yearly compensation during his time at the company increased from his $258,394 while military head to over four million. When he resigned in 2000 he had a compensation package worth over $20m|twenty
