The former US VP Dick Cheney, who passed away at the age of 84, was seen as arguably the most influential occupants of that position in American history. Whereas countless second-in-commands were confined to peripheral or ceremonial positions, Cheney held enormous influence during the presidency of George W Bush, to the point that he was frequently called as the "true president".
Bush objected to that description and said the relationship was more complicated. He observed that Cheney was courteous, always calling him in official appearances as the President, while he called him as Dick. Bush challenged even descriptions of their partnership as a collaboration because it suggested that they were peers. Regardless of these denials, Cheney viewed the relaxed president pliable on a wide array of policy decisions.
The Aftermath of 9/11
At the head of a faction of conservative hawks that featured Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the invasion of Iraq in 2003 in response to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. During of the 9/11 assault, Bush had been taking part in a session at a educational institution in Florida. While Bush headed for a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, directing the destruction of any unresponsive planes approaching the government building.
Cheney said the strikes changed him, causing him to be intent on retaliation. Together with other conservative figures, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a occupation of Afghanistan in an effort to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the invasion of Iraq, although there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Debated Policies
He expressed no regrets about the military campaign, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, and not about the waterboarding of detainees rounded up after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was based on misleading reports echoed by Cheney, was the correct course of action. "It represented the proper decision to do back then. I believed it at the time and I hold that view presently."
But even then, there were dissenting voices at a senior level about the poor management of Iraq. One of the White House's own delegates to the Middle East, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the position. "I saw, at a minimum," he later wrote "obvious failure, carelessness, and unaccountability: at worst, falsehoods, ineptitude, and dishonesty."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not solely accountable for the Iraq campaign. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for similar measures. He had written a document setting out situations in which American interests might be compromised (including "obtaining essential resources, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "the United States should be postured to act independently when cooperative measures prove impossible," particularly citing armed actions against Iraq.
Bush additionally had assumed the Oval Office generally inclined on executing what his parent had specifically avoided to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. Following he had been fired by the White House, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill disclosed how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had announced his intention of diminishing America's involvement in the Middle East dispute and suggested defense operations against Iraq.
Bush carried a personal grudge against Saddam, convinced he had been responsible for a plot to murder his parent, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore objected to that one of the most prominent accommodations in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a image of his father's visage that everyone had to tread upon.
Interrogation Methods
However it was Cheney who was one of the most outspoken advocating attacking Iraq, repeatedly quoting information documents that were whether weak or entirely deceptive. He supported what the Bush administration indirectly described as "advanced techniques", the use of simulated drowning and physical pressure.
Addressing a Senate analysis in 2014 that found that no useful information had resulted from the interrogation methods, Cheney dismissed the conclusions as "loaded with crap". He stated to Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to establish protocols and put in place initiatives to capture the individuals who took the lives of 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it never happened again. That is precisely what they did and they earn a lot of praise."
Public Persona
Cheney enjoyed nicknames assigned to him by opponents such as the Star Wars villain and the dark figure, and by the idea that he was a sinister influence controlling Bush. In the author's 2013 publication about the pair, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is reported as stating: "Am I the evil genius in the background that operates invisibly leave his domain? That is a nice way to work, in fact."
Corporate Connections
Controversy over his corporate affiliations pursued him through his period as second-in-command. Although he had little experience in business but good contacts in security, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial oil and gas companies, in 1995 as leader and top executive.
In 2000 he was selected as Bush's running mate for the executive branch. Controversially, during the military campaign, Halliburton was awarded US agreements totaling substantial sums.
It greatly increased his wealth. His yearly earnings during his time at the firm grew from his previous salary while military head to over four million. When he departed in 2000 he had a compensation package totaling over $20m|twenty
