The deceased US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who passed away at the age of 84, was considered one of the most significant occupants of that position in US history. Although numerous VPs were confined to peripheral or ceremonial functions, Cheney wielded substantial sway during the presidency of George W Bush, to the point that he was frequently called as the "actual president".
Bush objected to this portrayal and stated the connection was more nuanced. He pointed out that Cheney was courteous, consistently referring to him in official appearances as President, while he called him as Dick. Bush disputed even portrayals of their relationship as a team because it implied that they were equals. Regardless of these denials, Cheney viewed the relaxed president malleable on a whole raft of policy decisions.
A Aftermath of 9/11
At the head of a contingent of neo-cons that featured military head Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the invasion of Iraq in 2003 in response to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. During of the 9/11 strike, Bush had been attending a session at a educational institution in Florida. Whereas Bush headed for a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, directing the shooting down of any non-communicating aircraft approaching the Capitol building.
Cheney said the strikes altered his perspective, causing him to be determined on retribution. In conjunction with other neo-conservatives, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a occupation of Afghanistan in an effort to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the military action of Iraq, although there was little proof of Saddam Hussein having involvement.
Debated Policies
He showed no remorse about the invasion, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, nor about the enhanced interrogation of individuals rounded up after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was based on inaccurate information circulated by Cheney, was the right decision. "It proved to be the right thing to do back then. I was convinced at the time and I believe it today."
However even then, there were dissenting voices at a senior level about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the administration's own representatives to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the post. "I witnessed, at the very least," he subsequently stated "true dereliction, inaction, and irresponsibility: at worst, falsehoods, unfitness, and graft."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not completely accountable for the Iraq campaign. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for comparable steps. He had drafted a memo setting out scenarios in which national priorities might be threatened (encompassing "obtaining crucial commodities, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "America should be prepared to take unilateral action when joint efforts cannot be orchestrated," explicitly mentioning armed actions against Iraq.
Bush too had assumed the presidency generally inclined on implementing what his predecessor had specifically avoided to do in 1991; remove Saddam. Subsequent to he had been fired by the administration, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill disclosed how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had announced his plan of reducing America's participation in the regional tensions and proposed military action against Iraq.
Bush bore a private grievance against Saddam, convinced he had been behind a plot to kill his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He also objected to that one of the largest establishments in Baghdad had a floor mural with a image of his father's visage that each person had to tread upon.
Questioning Techniques
But it was Cheney who was among the most vociferous advocating striking Iraq, consistently referencing information documents that were whether insubstantial or entirely inaccurate. He endorsed what the Bush government euphemistically referred to as "advanced techniques", the employment of waterboarding and physical pressure.
Addressing a Senate document in 2014 that concluded that no useful information had come from the harsh techniques, Cheney disregarded the report as "loaded with crap". He told Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to establish protocols and put in place procedures to catch the bastards who took the lives of 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it was not repeated. That is precisely what they did and they deserve a lot of praise."
Public Image
Cheney enjoyed nicknames given to him by critics such as the Star Wars villain and The Prince of Darkness, and by the idea that he was a shadow power directing Bush. In the journalist's 2013 book about the duo, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is cited as commenting: "Am I the evil genius in the background that nobody ever sees come out of his domain? It's a nice way to function, in fact."
Business Interests
Controversy over his commercial relationships pursued him throughout his time as vice-president. Even though he had minimal expertise in commerce but good contacts in military, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial oil and gas companies, in 1995 as chairman and CEO.
In 2000 he became Bush's running mate for the White House. Controversially, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was awarded US agreements worth billions.
It made him rich. His yearly earnings during his tenure at the corporation rose from his quarter-million dollars when he was Pentagon chief to $4.4m. When he left in 2000 he had a severance arrangement totaling over $20m|twenty
