The late US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who passed away at age 84, was seen as arguably the most significant incumbents of the vice-presidency in American history. While numerous VPs were limited to minor or ceremonial positions, Cheney held enormous sway during the term of George W Bush, to the point that he was frequently referred to as the "real president".
Bush resented that description and said the connection was more nuanced. He observed that Cheney was deferential, consistently addressing him in public as the President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush disputed even descriptions of their partnership as a partnership because it indicated that they were on equal footing. Regardless of these objections, Cheney found the laidback president malleable on a wide array of policy decisions.
A Post-9/11 Era
Leading of a contingent of conservative hawks that encompassed military head Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in reaction to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been participating in a meeting at a school in Florida. As Bush traveled to a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney took command, ordering the downing of any unidentified planes heading toward the government building.
Cheney stated the attacks transformed him, making him become determined on retaliation. Together with other neo-conservatives, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a occupation of Afghanistan in an attempt to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the military action of Iraq, though there was little proof of Saddam Hussein having involvement.
Disputed Actions
He expressed no regrets about the military campaign, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis died, or about the waterboarding of detainees apprehended after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was founded on inaccurate information circulated by Cheney, was the proper path to take. "It proved to be the correct action to do back then. I believed it at the time and I maintain that stance presently."
But during that period, there were opposing views at a top tier about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the White House's own representatives to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the role. "I witnessed, at the very least," he subsequently stated "true dereliction, inaction, and irresponsibility: at worst, lying, incompetence, and corruption."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not solely to blame for the Iraq invasion. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for similar measures. He had written a memorandum outlining scenarios in which national priorities might be endangered (featuring "obtaining vital raw materials, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "America should be postured to act independently when collective action cannot be orchestrated," specifically referencing defense operations against Iraq.
Bush too had arrived in the White House generally inclined on executing what his father had specifically avoided to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. Following he had been dismissed by the White House, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill disclosed how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had announced his plan of diminishing America's participation in the Middle East dispute and suggested defense operations against Iraq.
Bush held a personal grudge against Saddam, believing he had been behind a scheme to kill his parent, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally objected to that one of the largest hotels in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a image of his parent's visage that everyone had to step on.
Questioning Techniques
However it was Cheney who was one of the most outspoken advocating invading Iraq, repeatedly citing information documents that were both insubstantial or completely inaccurate. He endorsed what the Bush government indirectly described as "advanced techniques", the application of interrogation method and torture.
Addressing a Senate report in 2014 that concluded that no valuable data had resulted from the interrogation methods, Cheney disregarded the report as "riddled with crap". He informed Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to take steps and establish procedures to capture the perpetrators who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it never happened again. That was specifically what they did and they earn a lot of recognition."
Public Persona
Cheney enjoyed monikers assigned to him by opponents such as the Star Wars villain and the sinister presence, and by the idea that he was a shadow power controlling Bush. In Peter Baker's 2013 publication about the pair, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is reported as stating: "Do I represent the evil genius in the shadows that nobody ever sees come out of his lair? It's a advantageous way to work, truthfully."
Corporate Connections
Dispute over his business interests accompanied him through his period as vice-president. Even though he had limited background in commerce but strong connections in security, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial petroleum conglomerates, in 1995 as leader and CEO.
In 2000 he became Bush's VP candidate for the executive branch. Contentiously, during the military campaign, Halliburton was awarded US deals valued at billions.
It made him rich. His yearly compensation during his period at the corporation increased from his $258,394 during his time as Pentagon chief to millions. When he resigned in 2000 he had a compensation package worth more than $20m|twenty
