The deceased US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who has died at the age of 84, was regarded as one of the most powerful occupants of the vice-presidency in the nation's history. Whereas numerous vice-presidents were limited to peripheral or figurehead positions, Cheney exercised enormous sway during the presidency of George W Bush, to the point that he was frequently called as the "actual president".
Bush disliked this portrayal and stated the connection was more nuanced. He pointed out that Cheney was deferential, consistently calling him in public settings as President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush challenged even portrayals of their partnership as a collaboration because it indicated that they were on equal footing. Despite these denials, Cheney found the relaxed president malleable on a wide array of governmental choices.
The Period Following the Attacks
Leading of a group of neo-conservatives that included defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the invasion of Iraq in 2003 in reaction to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 strike, Bush had been attending a gathering at a elementary school in Florida. As Bush traveled to a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney took command, commanding the downing of any unresponsive airplanes nearing the government building.
Cheney said the assaults altered his perspective, causing him to be intent on revenge. In conjunction with other conservative figures, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a invasion of Afghanistan in an effort to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the invasion of Iraq, even though there was little proof of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Controversial Policies
He expressed no regrets about the military campaign, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis perished, and not about the waterboarding of individuals rounded up after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was founded on faulty intelligence circulated by Cheney, was the right path to take. "It represented the proper decision to do at that time. I had faith back then and I maintain that stance presently."
However even at the time, there were dissenting voices at a high level about the botched execution of Iraq. One of the White House'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 wrote later "clear negligence, carelessness, and recklessness: in the worst case, falsehoods, incompetence, and dishonesty."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not completely responsible for the Iraq invasion. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for similar measures. He had composed a memorandum detailing situations in which national priorities might be endangered (featuring "obtaining essential resources, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "the United States should be postured to operate alone when joint efforts prove impossible," specifically citing armed actions against Iraq.
Bush additionally had assumed the White House generally inclined on executing what his predecessor had specifically avoided to do in 1991; remove Saddam. After he had been fired by the White House, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the first meeting of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his objective of lowering America's involvement in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and mooted military action against Iraq.
Bush carried a private grievance against Saddam, believing he had been behind a scheme to assassinate his father, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore objected to that one of the largest hotels in Baghdad had a floor mural with a image of his predecessor's countenance that all visitors had to walk over.
Investigation Approaches
However it was Cheney who was among the most outspoken behind invading Iraq, frequently citing agency briefings that were either weak or completely deceptive. He supported what the Bush White House politely called as "advanced techniques", the use of waterboarding and harsh treatment.
Responding to a Senate analysis in 2014 that found that no useful information had resulted from the torture, Cheney rejected the report as "riddled with crap". He stated to Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to implement measures and establish programmes to apprehend the individuals who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it was not repeated. That was specifically what they did and they merit a lot of recognition."
Public Persona
Cheney reveled in nicknames given to him by critics such as the dark character and the sinister presence, and by the concept that he was a shadow power manipulating Bush. In Peter Baker's 2013 volume about the pair, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is reported as stating: "Is it me who is the malevolent mastermind in the corner that operates invisibly leave his hole? It's a advantageous way to operate, actually."
Business Interests
Controversy over his corporate affiliations accompanied him through his period as vice-president. Even though he had limited background in corporate affairs but established relationships in military, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's largest oil and gas corporations, in 1995 as chairman and chief executive.
In 2000 he became Bush's election partner for the White House. Contentiously, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was granted US agreements valued at multiple billions.
It significantly boosted his finances. His annual income during his period at the corporation rose from his previous salary during his time as Pentagon chief to millions. When he left in 2000 he had a compensation package valued at more than $20m|twenty
