The late US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who passed away at age 84, was regarded as arguably the most powerful holders of the vice-presidency in American history. Whereas many VPs were confined to peripheral or figurehead roles, Cheney held enormous influence during the term of George W Bush, to the point that he was often referred to as the "real president".
Bush objected to this portrayal and said the dynamic was more complicated. He noted that Cheney was courteous, always addressing him in public settings as Mr President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush disputed even characterisations of their relationship as a collaboration because it implied that they were on equal footing. In spite of such protestations, Cheney viewed the easygoing president accommodating on a wide array of policy decisions.
The Period Following the Attacks
In charge of a contingent of neo-conservatives that encompassed Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the invasion of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the September 11th attacks on New York and Washington. During of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been participating in a session at a school in Florida. While Bush headed for a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, ordering the destruction of any unidentified planes heading toward the US Capitol.
Cheney said the assaults transformed him, causing him to be determined on retribution. In conjunction with other conservative figures, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a invasion of Afghanistan in an endeavor to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the invasion of Iraq, even though there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Debated Policies
He voiced no apologies about the armed intervention, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, nor about the waterboarding of suspects apprehended after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was based on inaccurate reports circulated by Cheney, was the right decision. "It was the proper decision to do at that time. I was convinced then and I believe it presently."
Yet during that period, there were opposing views at a senior level about the botched execution of Iraq. One of the administration's own delegates to the Middle East, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the position. "I witnessed, as a baseline," he later wrote "clear negligence, negligence, and irresponsibility: potentially, falsehoods, unfitness, and dishonesty."
Additional Factors
Cheney was not solely responsible for the Iraq campaign. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for comparable steps. He had written a memorandum detailing scenarios in which US concerns might be compromised (including "access to vital raw materials, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "America should be prepared to take unilateral action when collective action cannot be orchestrated," explicitly referencing armed actions against Iraq.
Bush also had assumed the White House generally inclined on implementing what his predecessor had specifically avoided to do in 1991; topple Saddam. After he had been sacked by the administration, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the first meeting of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his objective of reducing America's participation in the Middle East dispute and mooted armed intervention against Iraq.
Bush held a individual resentment against Saddam, convinced he had been behind a conspiracy to assassinate his parent, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally resented that one of the largest establishments in Baghdad had a floor mural with a portrait of his father's countenance that each person had to walk over.
Investigation Approaches
But it was Cheney who was one of the most vociferous supporting attacking Iraq, frequently referencing information documents that were whether insubstantial or completely deceptive. He endorsed what the Bush White House politely called as "intensive questioning", the application of waterboarding and physical pressure.
Addressing a Senate report in 2014 that determined that no actionable intelligence had resulted from the interrogation methods, Cheney dismissed the conclusions as "riddled with crap". He stated to Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to establish protocols and create programmes to capture the individuals who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it never happened again. That was specifically what they did and they merit a lot of recognition."
Public Persona
Cheney enjoyed nicknames imposed on him by detractors such as the dark character and the dark figure, and by the idea that he was a sinister influence manipulating Bush. In Peter Baker's 2013 book about the duo, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is cited as commenting: "Is it me who is the malevolent mastermind in the background that operates invisibly come out of his lair? This represents a advantageous way to work, in fact."
Business Interests
Dispute over his business interests pursued him through his period as VP. Even though he had minimal expertise in corporate affairs but established relationships in defence, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's largest oil and gas conglomerates, in 1995 as chairman and top executive.
In 2000 he was selected as Bush's VP candidate for the executive branch. Contentiously, during the military campaign, Halliburton was given US deals worth billions.
It significantly boosted his finances. His yearly earnings during his time at the corporation grew from his quarter-million dollars while Pentagon chief to $4.4m. When he resigned in 2000 he had a severance arrangement totaling more than $20m|twenty
