The deceased US vice-president Dick Cheney, who passed away at the age of 84, was seen as one of the most influential occupants of that position in American history. Whereas countless second-in-commands were limited to minor or ceremonial positions, Cheney exercised substantial influence during the administration of George W Bush, so much so that he was commonly described as the "real president".
Bush disliked such a characterisation and claimed the relationship was more nuanced. 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 descriptions of their relationship as a team because it indicated that they were peers. Despite such protestations, Cheney viewed the easygoing president accommodating on a wide array of administrative determinations.
The Aftermath of 9/11
Leading of a contingent of neo-cons that encompassed Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. During of the 9/11 assault, Bush had been participating in a gathering at a elementary school in Florida. Whereas Bush headed for a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, directing the destruction of any non-communicating airplanes approaching the US Capitol.
Cheney said the attacks changed him, causing him to be focused on retaliation. Together with other conservative figures, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a invasion of Afghanistan in an endeavor to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the invasion of Iraq, though there was little proof of Saddam Hussein playing a role.
Disputed Actions
He voiced no apologies about the military campaign, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis perished, nor about the waterboarding of detainees apprehended after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was founded on misleading intelligence circulated by Cheney, was the proper course of action. "It represented the proper decision to do back then. I was convinced at the time and I maintain that stance today."
Yet even then, there were dissenting voices at a senior level about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the government's own representatives to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the position. "I saw, at a minimum," he later wrote "clear negligence, inaction, and irresponsibility: potentially, deception, ineptitude, and dishonesty."
Broader Context
Cheney was not completely accountable for the Iraq campaign. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for such action. He had composed a document detailing scenarios in which US concerns might be endangered (featuring "availability of vital raw materials, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "America should be postured to take unilateral action when joint efforts prove impossible," specifically referencing armed actions against Iraq.
Bush additionally had arrived in the presidency somewhat determined on carrying out what his father had specifically avoided to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. Subsequent to he had been fired by the president, the finance chief Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his intention of reducing America's involvement in the Middle East dispute and proposed armed intervention against Iraq.
Bush bore a private grievance against Saddam, believing he had been responsible for a conspiracy to assassinate his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He also disliked that one of the most prominent accommodations in Baghdad had a ground design with a portrait of his father's face that each person had to step on.
Investigation Approaches
But it was Cheney who was one of the most vociferous behind striking Iraq, frequently referencing intelligence reports that were either weak or totally deceptive. He backed what the Bush White House politely called as "advanced techniques", the use of waterboarding and torture.
Answering a Senate report in 2014 that found that no valuable data had been obtained through the harsh techniques, Cheney dismissed the conclusions as "full of crap". He stated to Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to implement measures and create procedures to capture the individuals who took the lives of 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it would not recur. That was specifically what they did and they deserve a lot of recognition."
External Perception
Cheney took pleasure in labels imposed on him by critics such as the Star Wars villain and the dark figure, and by the notion that he was a shadow power manipulating Bush. In the journalist's 2013 book about the pair, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is cited as commenting: "Am I the sinister strategist in the corner that nobody ever sees emerge from his domain? That is a effective way to function, actually."
Business Interests
Dispute over his corporate affiliations pursued him during his tenure as vice-president. While he had little experience in commerce but good contacts in security, particularly 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 CEO.
In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's election partner for the executive branch. Contentiously, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was given US agreements worth substantial sums.
It greatly increased his wealth. His yearly compensation during his period at the company grew from his quarter-million dollars when he was military head to $4.4m. When he departed in 2000 he had a package totaling more than $20m|twenty
