The deceased US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who passed away at the age of 84, was considered one of the most significant holders of the vice-presidency in the nation's history. Although many vice-presidents were confined to peripheral or symbolic roles, Cheney exercised substantial sway during the presidency of George W Bush, to the point that he was often referred to as the "actual president".
Bush objected to that description and claimed the dynamic was more complicated. He pointed out that Cheney was respectful, always referring to him in official appearances as President, while he called him as Dick. Bush disputed even characterisations of their association as a team because it suggested that they were peers. Regardless of these denials, Cheney viewed the relaxed president malleable on a whole raft of administrative determinations.
A Post-9/11 Era
In charge of a group of neo-conservatives that included Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in reaction to the September 11th attacks on New York and Washington. During of the 9/11 strike, Bush had been participating in a meeting at a educational institution in Florida. While Bush made his way to a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, commanding the shooting down of any non-communicating aircraft heading toward the government building.
Cheney said the assaults transformed him, leading him to become determined on retribution. Along with other neo-cons, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a invasion of Afghanistan in an effort to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the military action of Iraq, even though there was little proof of Saddam Hussein having involvement.
Controversial Actions
He voiced no apologies about the armed intervention, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, nor about the enhanced interrogation of individuals captured after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was based on misleading reports circulated by Cheney, was the correct course of action. "It was the proper decision to do back then. I believed it then and I maintain that stance now."
But during that period, there were dissenting voices at a top tier about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the administration's own delegates to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the role. "I saw, at the very least," he later wrote "obvious failure, inaction, and recklessness: in the worst case, lying, ineptitude, and graft."
Broader Context
Cheney was not solely responsible for the Iraq campaign. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for comparable steps. He had written a document detailing situations in which national priorities might be threatened (encompassing "availability of crucial commodities, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "the US should be positioned to take unilateral action when joint efforts prove impossible," explicitly citing defense operations against Iraq.
Bush additionally had entered the White House somewhat determined on carrying out what his father had famously refused to do in 1991; remove Saddam. Subsequent to he had been fired 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 plan of reducing America's engagement in the Middle East dispute and suggested armed intervention against Iraq.
Bush carried a individual resentment against Saddam, thinking he had been responsible for a plot to kill his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He also objected to that one of the biggest hotels in Baghdad had a ground design with a portrait of his father's face that everyone had to step on.
Questioning Techniques
But it was Cheney who was part of the most vehement supporting striking Iraq, frequently referencing information documents that were whether insubstantial or entirely inaccurate. He supported what the Bush government indirectly described as "intensive questioning", the use of interrogation method and physical pressure.
Responding to a Senate analysis in 2014 that concluded that no valuable data had come from the harsh techniques, Cheney dismissed the findings as "full of crap". He informed Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to establish protocols and establish procedures to apprehend the individuals who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it would not recur. That was specifically what they did and they earn a lot of credit."
Public Persona
Cheney took pleasure in labels imposed on him by opponents such as Darth Vader and the sinister presence, and by the concept that he was a dark force manipulating Bush. In Peter Baker's 2013 publication about the pair, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is quoted as saying: "Do I represent the evil genius in the shadows that operates invisibly leave his lair? It's a effective way to work, in fact."
Commercial Ties
Controversy over his commercial relationships accompanied him through his period as second-in-command. While he had minimal expertise in commerce but strong connections in military, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial petroleum corporations, in 1995 as leader and top executive.
In 2000 he was selected as Bush's running mate for the executive branch. Debatably, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was granted US agreements totaling billions.
It greatly increased his wealth. His annual income during his tenure at the corporation rose from his $258,394 during his time as military head to millions. When he departed in 2000 he had a package totaling more than $20m|twenty
