The late US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who passed away at age 84, was regarded as among the most influential occupants of the vice-presidency in American history. While countless VPs were confined to minor or ceremonial functions, Cheney held enormous sway during the term of George W Bush, to the point that he was often called as the "real president".
Bush objected to such a characterisation and claimed the relationship was more nuanced. He pointed out that Cheney was courteous, always addressing him in official appearances as the President, while he called him as Dick. Bush challenged even descriptions of their relationship as a collaboration because it implied that they were equals. Despite such protestations, Cheney considered the relaxed president malleable on a broad range of governmental choices.
The Post-9/11 Era
At the head of a group of neo-cons that included military head Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 assault, Bush had been participating in a gathering at a school in Florida. Whereas Bush traveled to a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, directing the shooting down of any non-communicating airplanes approaching the Capitol building.
Cheney stated the assaults changed him, leading him to become determined on retribution. In conjunction with other neo-cons, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a occupation of Afghanistan in an effort to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then pressed fiercely for the armed intervention of Iraq, although there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein having involvement.
Disputed Actions
He voiced no apologies about the invasion, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis perished, or about the enhanced interrogation of detainees rounded up after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was based on misleading information repeated by Cheney, was the right path to take. "It proved to be the correct action to do back then. I was convinced back then and I hold that view presently."
However even at the time, there were dissenting voices at a senior level about the botched execution of Iraq. One of the administration's own special envoys to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the role. "I saw, at the very least," he subsequently stated "clear negligence, negligence, and irresponsibility: potentially, falsehoods, incompetence, and dishonesty."
Broader Context
Cheney was not completely responsible for the Iraq campaign. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for comparable steps. He had composed a memo detailing scenarios in which national priorities might be threatened (encompassing "access to essential resources, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "the US should be positioned to take unilateral action when collective action prove impossible," explicitly referencing defense operations against Iraq.
Bush also had arrived in the presidency somewhat determined on executing what his parent had famously refused to do in 1991; remove Saddam. After he had been sacked 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 announced his intention of reducing America's participation in the Middle East dispute and proposed military action against Iraq.
Bush held a personal grudge against Saddam, believing he had been behind a plot to murder his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally resented that one of the most prominent accommodations in Baghdad had a floor mural with a portrait of his parent's countenance that each person had to tread upon.
Investigation Approaches
Yet it was Cheney who was among the most vehement supporting invading Iraq, repeatedly quoting agency briefings that were both insubstantial or entirely deceptive. He backed what the Bush government politely called as "advanced techniques", the application of simulated drowning and harsh treatment.
Addressing a Senate analysis in 2014 that concluded that no valuable data had been obtained through the harsh techniques, Cheney disregarded the findings as "loaded with crap". He stated to Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to establish protocols and establish programmes to apprehend the bastards who took the lives of 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it was not repeated. That is precisely what they did and they deserve a lot of recognition."
Public Image
Cheney reveled in nicknames imposed on him by critics such as the Star Wars villain and The Prince of Darkness, and by the idea that he was a dark force manipulating Bush. In the journalist's 2013 book about the pair, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is quoted as saying: "Is it me who is the malevolent mastermind in the corner that remains unseen emerge from his domain? It's a nice way to operate, in fact."
Corporate Connections
Controversy over his corporate affiliations followed him throughout his time as second-in-command. Even though he had limited background in business but strong connections in security, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's largest energy corporations, in 1995 as chairman and CEO.
In 2000 he was selected as Bush's VP candidate for the presidency. Controversially, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was awarded US contracts valued at billions.
It greatly increased his wealth. His annual income during his period at the company rose from his quarter-million dollars during his time as military head to millions. When he resigned in 2000 he had a package totaling over $20m|twenty
