The deceased US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who passed away at the age of 84, was regarded as one of the most significant occupants of that position in American history. While countless VPs had to settle for marginal or figurehead functions, Cheney exercised huge sway during the administration of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was commonly referred to as the "true president".
Bush objected to such a characterisation and said the dynamic was more complex. He observed that Cheney was courteous, invariably addressing him in official appearances as President, while he called him as Dick. Bush disputed even descriptions of their relationship as a team because it suggested that they were equals. Regardless of such protestations, Cheney found the easygoing president malleable on a wide array of governmental choices.
A Period Following the Attacks
Leading of a faction of neo-conservatives that featured defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. At the time of the 9/11 strike, Bush had been taking part in a meeting at a educational institution in Florida. Whereas Bush made his way to a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, commanding the downing of any unidentified aircraft heading toward the government building.
Cheney claimed the attacks changed him, causing him to be determined on revenge. Along with other neo-cons, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a occupation of Afghanistan in an attempt to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then pressed fiercely for the armed intervention of Iraq, although there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein having involvement.
Controversial Decisions
He expressed no regrets about the military campaign, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, and not about the waterboarding of detainees captured after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was predicated on inaccurate reports repeated by Cheney, was the right decision. "It proved to be the right thing to do then. I had faith then and I believe it today."
However even at the time, there were opposing views at a high level about the poor management of Iraq. One of the White House's own delegates to the Middle East, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the role. "I witnessed, at a minimum," he subsequently stated "clear negligence, carelessness, and recklessness: in the worst case, deception, unfitness, and graft."
Broader Context
Cheney was not completely responsible for the Iraq invasion. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for similar measures. He had drafted a memo detailing scenarios in which American interests might be endangered (encompassing "obtaining crucial commodities, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "America should be prepared to operate alone when joint efforts cannot be orchestrated," specifically referencing military moves against Iraq.
Bush also had entered the Oval Office somewhat determined on executing what his predecessor had specifically avoided to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. After he had been dismissed by the administration, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill disclosed how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his intention of diminishing America's involvement in the regional tensions and suggested military action against Iraq.
Bush bore a private grievance against Saddam, convinced he had been responsible for a scheme to murder his parent, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally disliked that one of the most prominent hotels in Baghdad had a floor mural with a likeness of his predecessor's face that everyone had to step on.
Investigation Approaches
But it was Cheney who was part of the most outspoken supporting invading Iraq, consistently quoting agency briefings that were either thin or completely deceptive. He backed what the Bush administration euphemistically referred to as "enhanced interrogation", the use of waterboarding and harsh treatment.
Answering a Senate analysis in 2014 that concluded that no useful information had come from the harsh techniques, Cheney rejected the report as "full of crap". He told Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to take steps and put in place procedures to capture the perpetrators who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it never happened again. That was specifically what they did and they earn a lot of credit."
Public Image
Cheney enjoyed monikers imposed on him by detractors such as the dark character and The Prince of Darkness, and by the notion that he was a dark force directing 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: "Is it me who is the evil genius in the corner that nobody ever sees leave his lair? It's a effective way to operate, truthfully."
Commercial Ties
Dispute over his corporate affiliations pursued him during his tenure as VP. While he had little experience in corporate affairs but established relationships in security, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's largest oil and gas companies, in 1995 as chairman and top 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 valued at multiple billions.
It greatly increased his wealth. His yearly compensation during his tenure at the corporation increased from his $258,394 during his time as defence secretary to over four million. When he left in 2000 he had a package valued at over $20m|twenty
