The former US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who passed away at age 84, was regarded as among the most powerful occupants of that office in US history. While numerous vice-presidents had to settle for minor or figurehead functions, Cheney wielded substantial sway during the presidency of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was frequently referred to as the "actual president".
Bush objected to that description and claimed the connection was more complex. He observed that Cheney was deferential, always referring to him in public settings as President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush challenged even portrayals of their partnership as a team because it suggested that they were equals. Despite these objections, Cheney viewed the easygoing president pliable on a broad range of administrative determinations.
A Post-9/11 Era
Leading of a group of neo-cons that featured defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense 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 assault, Bush had been attending a session at a educational institution in Florida. As Bush traveled to a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney took command, ordering the destruction of any non-communicating aircraft nearing the Capitol building.
Cheney stated the strikes altered his perspective, making him become determined on retribution. Along with other neo-conservatives, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a takeover of Afghanistan in an effort to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the military action of Iraq, even though there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Disputed Decisions
He expressed no regrets about the military campaign, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis perished, or about the waterboarding of suspects captured after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was based on misleading information circulated by Cheney, was the proper course of action. "It was the right thing to do at that time. I believed it back then and I maintain that stance today."
Yet even at the time, there were contrary opinions at a high level about the poor management of Iraq. One of the government's own delegates to the Middle East, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the position. "I saw, as a baseline," he later wrote "obvious failure, carelessness, and unaccountability: potentially, lying, ineptitude, and dishonesty."
Broader Context
Cheney was not solely to blame for the Iraq invasion. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for comparable steps. He had drafted a document outlining scenarios in which American interests might be endangered (including "availability of vital raw materials, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "America should be postured to act independently when joint efforts cannot be orchestrated," specifically citing defense operations against Iraq.
Bush additionally had assumed the presidency vaguely intent on carrying out what his father had notably declined to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. After he had been sacked by the president, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the first meeting of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his intention of reducing America's participation in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and mooted defense operations against Iraq.
Bush held a private grievance against Saddam, convinced he had been involved in a scheme to murder his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He also disliked that one of the biggest establishments in Baghdad had a ground design with a portrait of his predecessor's visage that all visitors had to tread upon.
Investigation Approaches
However it was Cheney who was part of the most vehement advocating invading Iraq, repeatedly citing information documents that were either weak or totally inaccurate. He supported what the Bush White House euphemistically referred to as "enhanced interrogation", the use of waterboarding and physical pressure.
Answering a Senate report in 2014 that concluded that no useful information had come from the torture, Cheney dismissed the findings as "full of crap". He told Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to take steps and put in place initiatives to apprehend the bastards who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it never happened again. That's exactly what they did and they merit a lot of credit."
External Perception
Cheney enjoyed labels imposed on him by critics such as the Star Wars villain and the sinister presence, and by the notion that he was a sinister influence manipulating Bush. In the author's 2013 volume about the two, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is reported as stating: "Do I represent the malevolent mastermind in the shadows that operates invisibly emerge from his hole? That is a effective way to operate, actually."
Commercial Ties
Debate over his business interests followed him during his tenure as vice-president. Although he had limited background in corporate affairs but established relationships in military, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's biggest energy companies, in 1995 as leader and CEO.
In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's VP candidate for the White House. Debatably, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was granted US agreements valued at multiple billions.
It significantly boosted his finances. His annual income during his time at the company rose from his previous salary while military head to over four million. When he left in 2000 he had a compensation package valued at over $20m|twenty
