The deceased US VP Dick Cheney, who died at age 84, was regarded as one of the most influential holders of that office in the nation's history. While countless second-in-commands had to settle for minor or ceremonial roles, Cheney held enormous influence during the administration of George W Bush, to the point that he was frequently referred to as the "true president".
Bush disliked that description and stated the dynamic was more complex. He pointed out that Cheney was respectful, always calling him in public settings as President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush disputed even portrayals of their association as a collaboration because it indicated that they were on equal footing. Despite these objections, Cheney found the easygoing president accommodating on a wide array of governmental choices.
A Aftermath of 9/11
In charge of a faction of conservative hawks that encompassed defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the military intervention of Iraq in 2003 in reaction to the 9/11 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 headed for a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, directing the shooting down of any non-communicating airplanes nearing the US Capitol.
Cheney claimed the assaults altered his perspective, making him become focused on retaliation. In conjunction with other neo-cons, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a invasion of Afghanistan in an effort to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then pressed fiercely for the armed intervention of Iraq, though there was little proof of Saddam Hussein having involvement.
Debated Policies
He showed no remorse about the armed intervention, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis perished, nor about the harsh treatment of suspects captured after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was founded on faulty intelligence repeated by Cheney, was the correct decision. "It was the right thing to do at that time. I had faith at the time and I maintain that stance today."
But even then, there were dissenting voices at a top tier about the botched execution of Iraq. One of the White House's own representatives to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the role. "I witnessed, at a minimum," he wrote later "true dereliction, negligence, and irresponsibility: potentially, falsehoods, unfitness, and corruption."
Additional Factors
Cheney was not entirely to blame for the Iraq campaign. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for such action. He had drafted a document outlining situations in which national priorities might be compromised (featuring "obtaining vital raw materials, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "the US should be positioned to act independently when joint efforts cannot be arranged," specifically referencing armed actions against Iraq.
Bush additionally had arrived in the Oval Office vaguely intent on carrying out what his parent had notably declined to do in 1991; remove Saddam. After he had been fired by the president, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill disclosed how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his intention of lowering America's involvement in the Middle East dispute and mooted defense operations against Iraq.
Bush held a personal grudge against Saddam, convinced he had been behind a plot to murder his father, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore objected to that one of the biggest accommodations in Baghdad had a ground design with a likeness of his parent's visage that each person had to tread upon.
Questioning Techniques
Yet it was Cheney who was among the most vociferous advocating striking Iraq, frequently quoting agency briefings that were whether insubstantial or completely inaccurate. He supported what the Bush government euphemistically referred to as "intensive questioning", the use of interrogation method and torture.
Answering a Senate report in 2014 that determined that no valuable data had come from the interrogation methods, Cheney dismissed the findings as "riddled with crap". He informed Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to take steps and establish procedures to capture the individuals who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it would not recur. That's exactly what they did and they earn a lot of credit."
External Perception
Cheney reveled in nicknames imposed on him by critics such as Darth Vader and the dark figure, and by the concept that he was a sinister influence manipulating Bush. In the author's 2013 publication 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 background that operates invisibly emerge from his domain? That is a nice way to function, in fact."
Corporate Connections
Debate over his commercial relationships pursued him during his tenure as second-in-command. Although he had limited background in commerce but established relationships in security, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial energy conglomerates, in 1995 as leader and CEO.
In 2000 he became Bush's election partner for the executive branch. Debatably, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was awarded US deals worth billions.
It greatly increased his wealth. His yearly earnings during his period at the firm rose from his quarter-million dollars while Pentagon chief to $4.4m. When he resigned in 2000 he had a severance arrangement valued at more than $20m|twenty
