The deceased US VP Dick Cheney, who passed away at age 84, was regarded as arguably the most influential holders of the vice-presidency in the nation's history. While many second-in-commands had to settle for peripheral or ceremonial functions, Cheney wielded huge influence during the presidency of George W Bush, so much so that he was commonly referred to as the "true president".
Bush objected to such a characterisation and stated the dynamic was more complicated. He pointed out that Cheney was courteous, invariably calling him in public settings as Mr President, while he called him as Dick. Bush questioned even portrayals of their relationship as a partnership because it implied that they were peers. Regardless of these objections, Cheney considered the relaxed president pliable on a broad range of administrative determinations.
A Period Following the Attacks
Leading of a faction of neo-conservatives that featured defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the military intervention of Iraq in 2003 in reaction to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. During of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been attending a gathering at a school in Florida. While Bush made his way to a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, directing the downing of any non-communicating aircraft approaching the Capitol building.
Cheney stated the attacks altered his perspective, leading him to become focused on retribution. In conjunction with other neo-conservatives, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a occupation of Afghanistan in an effort to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then pressed fiercely for the armed intervention of Iraq, although there was little proof of Saddam Hussein playing a role.
Controversial Actions
He showed no remorse about the invasion, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, nor about the enhanced interrogation of suspects apprehended after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was based on misleading information repeated by Cheney, was the correct course of action. "It represented the right thing to do back then. I believed it at the time and I believe it presently."
Yet even then, there were opposing views at a high level about the botched execution of Iraq. One of the White House's own representatives to the Middle East, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the role. "I witnessed, at the very least," he subsequently stated "true dereliction, negligence, and recklessness: in the worst case, deception, ineptitude, and dishonesty."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not entirely accountable for the Iraq military action. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for comparable steps. He had written a document setting out situations in which US concerns might be endangered (encompassing "availability of vital raw materials, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "America should be positioned to operate alone when collective action prove impossible," explicitly referencing armed actions against Iraq.
Bush also had assumed the presidency vaguely intent on carrying out what his predecessor had famously refused to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. Subsequent to he had been dismissed by the president, the finance chief Paul O'Neill disclosed how, at the first meeting of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his intention of diminishing America's engagement in the regional tensions and suggested defense operations against Iraq.
Bush bore a individual resentment against Saddam, believing he had been responsible for a conspiracy to murder his parent, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He also objected to that one of the most prominent establishments in Baghdad had a floor mural with a likeness of his parent's countenance that each person had to tread upon.
Investigation Approaches
However it was Cheney who was part of the most vociferous supporting striking Iraq, repeatedly citing agency briefings that were both insubstantial or totally misleading. He supported what the Bush administration euphemistically referred to as "advanced techniques", the employment of interrogation method and harsh treatment.
Responding to a Senate analysis in 2014 that concluded that no actionable intelligence had resulted from the torture, Cheney rejected the report as "full of crap". He told Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to establish protocols and create programmes to apprehend 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 credit."
Public Persona
Cheney reveled in monikers given to him by detractors such as the dark character and the dark figure, and by the idea that he was a shadow power controlling Bush. In the author's 2013 volume about the pair, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is reported as stating: "Do I represent the sinister strategist in the corner that nobody ever sees leave his lair? That is a advantageous way to work, actually."
Commercial Ties
Controversy over his corporate affiliations pursued him during his tenure as second-in-command. Even though he had limited background in corporate affairs but good contacts in security, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial energy conglomerates, in 1995 as chair and top executive.
In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's running mate for the presidency. Debatably, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was given US agreements worth multiple billions.
It greatly increased his wealth. His annual income during his time at the company increased from his previous salary when he was military head to $4.4m. When he departed in 2000 he had a package totaling more than $20m|twenty
