The late US vice-president Dick Cheney, who died at the age of 84, was considered one of the most significant incumbents of that office in US history. Whereas many second-in-commands were limited to peripheral or ceremonial functions, Cheney exercised substantial sway during the term of George W Bush, to the point that he was often described as the "true president".
Bush resented such a characterisation and claimed the connection was more complex. He noted that Cheney was deferential, always referring to him in public as Mr President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush questioned even portrayals of their relationship as a team because it indicated that they were equals. In spite of these objections, Cheney found the relaxed president pliable on a whole raft of policy decisions.
A Post-9/11 Era
In charge of a group of conservative hawks that encompassed military head Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the invasion of Iraq in 2003 in reaction to the September 11th attacks on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been attending a meeting at a school in Florida. While Bush headed for a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, ordering the downing of any unidentified aircraft nearing the government building.
Cheney stated the strikes changed him, causing him to be intent on retribution. In conjunction with other neo-cons, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a occupation of Afghanistan in an attempt 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.
Disputed Policies
He showed no remorse about the armed intervention, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, nor about the waterboarding of detainees apprehended after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was founded on inaccurate information repeated by Cheney, was the correct decision. "It was the correct action to do then. I believed it then and I hold that view presently."
But even then, there were opposing views at a high level about the botched execution of Iraq. One of the White House's own special envoys to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the position. "I witnessed, at the very least," he subsequently stated "obvious failure, negligence, and recklessness: in the worst case, deception, unfitness, and graft."
Additional Factors
Cheney was not solely accountable for the Iraq military action. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for comparable steps. He had composed a memorandum outlining situations in which national priorities might be threatened (encompassing "availability of crucial commodities, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "the US should be postured to act independently when joint efforts prove impossible," particularly citing defense operations against Iraq.
Bush too had entered the presidency somewhat determined on implementing what his predecessor had notably declined to do in 1991; topple Saddam. Subsequent to he had been dismissed by the administration, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his intention of diminishing America's involvement in the Middle East dispute and suggested defense operations against Iraq.
Bush carried a private grievance against Saddam, believing he had been involved in a scheme to murder his father, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He also disliked that one of the most prominent hotels in Baghdad had a ground design with a portrait of his parent's countenance that each person had to walk over.
Investigation Approaches
Yet it was Cheney who was part of the most vehement supporting striking Iraq, frequently referencing intelligence reports that were whether weak or totally inaccurate. He backed what the Bush administration indirectly described as "enhanced interrogation", the use of waterboarding and harsh treatment.
Answering a Senate document in 2014 that determined that no actionable intelligence had resulted from the harsh techniques, Cheney dismissed the report as "full of crap". He stated to Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to establish protocols and put in place initiatives to capture the perpetrators who took the lives of 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it was not repeated. That's exactly what they did and they merit a lot of recognition."
Public Image
Cheney reveled in nicknames given to him by detractors such as the Star Wars villain and the dark figure, and by the idea that he was a dark force manipulating Bush. In the journalist's 2013 publication about the duo, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is quoted as saying: "Am I the malevolent mastermind in the background that operates invisibly come out of his lair? That is a advantageous way to function, actually."
Corporate Connections
Controversy over his commercial relationships pursued him throughout his time as second-in-command. Although he had little experience in business but strong connections in defence, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's biggest petroleum corporations, in 1995 as chair and top executive.
In 2000 he became Bush's running mate for the White House. Debatably, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was awarded US agreements worth substantial sums.
It greatly increased his wealth. His yearly compensation during his period at the corporation rose from his previous salary during his time as military head to over four million. When he resigned in 2000 he had a severance arrangement totaling over $20m|twenty
