The deceased US VP Dick Cheney, who passed away at the age of 84, was regarded as one of the most significant occupants of the vice-presidency in the nation's history. While many second-in-commands were confined to peripheral or figurehead positions, Cheney held huge sway during the presidency of George W Bush, so much so that he was often called as the "actual president".
Bush resented such a characterisation and said the dynamic was more complex. He noted that Cheney was respectful, consistently referring to him in official appearances as the President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush questioned even descriptions of their association as a team because it implied that they were equals. Despite these objections, Cheney considered the easygoing president malleable on a wide array of administrative determinations.
A Post-9/11 Era
Leading of a faction of neo-cons that featured Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 strike, Bush had been attending a gathering at a school in Florida. Whereas Bush traveled to a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, ordering the destruction of any unidentified airplanes nearing the Capitol building.
Cheney stated the attacks transformed him, making him become intent on retaliation. Along with other conservative figures, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a invasion of Afghanistan in an endeavor to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then pressed fiercely for the invasion of Iraq, though there was little proof of Saddam Hussein having involvement.
Controversial Policies
He expressed no regrets about the military campaign, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis perished, or about the waterboarding of individuals captured after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was predicated on misleading information repeated by Cheney, was the right path to take. "It was the proper decision to do then. I was convinced back then and I hold that view now."
Yet during that period, there were dissenting voices at a high level about the botched execution of Iraq. One of the administration's own delegates to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the position. "I saw, at a minimum," he later wrote "true dereliction, negligence, and unaccountability: potentially, deception, incompetence, and corruption."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not entirely responsible for the Iraq campaign. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for similar measures. He had written a memorandum setting out circumstances in which American interests might be threatened (featuring "access to vital raw materials, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "the US should be prepared to take unilateral action when joint efforts prove impossible," specifically citing military moves against Iraq.
Bush additionally had arrived in the White House generally inclined on carrying out what his father had specifically avoided to do in 1991; remove Saddam. After he had been dismissed by the president, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his objective of reducing America's engagement in the regional tensions and mooted military action against Iraq.
Bush carried a private grievance against Saddam, convinced he had been responsible for a scheme to assassinate his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally objected to that one of the most prominent hotels in Baghdad had a floor mural with a portrait of his predecessor's visage that each person had to walk over.
Investigation Approaches
Yet it was Cheney who was among the most outspoken supporting invading Iraq, consistently quoting intelligence reports that were either insubstantial or completely deceptive. He supported what the Bush administration indirectly described as "advanced techniques", the use of waterboarding and physical pressure.
Responding to a Senate analysis in 2014 that found that no valuable data had resulted from the harsh techniques, Cheney rejected the report as "full of crap". He informed Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to establish protocols and create procedures to apprehend the bastards who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it was not repeated. That is precisely what they did and they deserve a lot of praise."
Public Persona
Cheney reveled in labels imposed on him by critics 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 two, 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 operates invisibly come out of his domain? That is a effective way to operate, actually."
Commercial Ties
Dispute over his commercial relationships accompanied him throughout his time as second-in-command. Although he had limited background in commerce but strong connections in military, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's biggest oil and gas corporations, in 1995 as chairman and chief executive.
In 2000 he became Bush's VP candidate for the presidency. Debatably, during the military campaign, Halliburton was granted US agreements worth billions.
It made him rich. His yearly earnings during his time at the corporation increased from his $258,394 when he was defence secretary to over four million. When he departed in 2000 he had a severance arrangement valued at more than $20m|twenty
