The deceased US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who passed away at the age of 84, was seen as one of the most influential holders of the vice-presidency in US history. While many second-in-commands were limited to marginal or ceremonial positions, Cheney exercised enormous influence during the presidency of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was frequently called as the "true president".
Bush objected to that description and stated the connection was more complex. He observed that Cheney was courteous, invariably addressing him in official appearances as President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush questioned even characterisations of their association as a team because it implied that they were peers. Regardless of these objections, Cheney found the easygoing president pliable on a whole raft of governmental choices.
A Aftermath of 9/11
At the head of a faction of conservative hawks that included defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the military intervention of Iraq in 2003 in reaction to the September 11th attacks on New York and Washington. During of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been taking part in a session at a elementary school in Florida. While Bush headed for a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, ordering the destruction of any unresponsive aircraft heading toward the government building.
Cheney said the assaults changed him, making him become determined on retribution. In conjunction with other neo-conservatives, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a occupation of Afghanistan in an attempt to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the military action of Iraq, though there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Disputed Actions
He showed no remorse about the armed intervention, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, or about the enhanced interrogation of detainees captured after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was based on misleading information echoed by Cheney, was the right course of action. "It proved to be the proper decision to do at that time. I had faith then and I hold that view now."
But during that period, 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 retained from the role. "I witnessed, at a minimum," he later wrote "clear negligence, inaction, and irresponsibility: at worst, falsehoods, ineptitude, and dishonesty."
Additional Factors
Cheney was not entirely accountable for the Iraq campaign. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for such action. He had drafted a memorandum outlining circumstances in which national priorities might be threatened (featuring "obtaining vital raw materials, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "the United States should be positioned to operate alone when joint efforts prove impossible," specifically referencing armed actions against Iraq.
Bush additionally had entered the White House vaguely intent on implementing what his parent had notably declined to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. After he had been fired by the president, the finance chief Paul O'Neill disclosed how, at the first meeting of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his objective of lowering America's engagement in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and suggested defense operations against Iraq.
Bush held a individual resentment against Saddam, convinced he had been involved in a scheme to kill his parent, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally resented that one of the biggest establishments in Baghdad had a floor mural with a image of his father's countenance that all visitors had to step on.
Questioning Techniques
Yet it was Cheney who was part of the most vehement behind striking Iraq, repeatedly quoting information documents that were whether thin or totally deceptive. He endorsed what the Bush government indirectly described as "enhanced interrogation", the application of waterboarding and torture.
Addressing a Senate document in 2014 that concluded that no useful information had resulted from the torture, Cheney disregarded the conclusions as "riddled with crap". He told Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to establish protocols and establish procedures to apprehend the bastards who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it never happened again. That's exactly what they did and they earn a lot of recognition."
External Perception
Cheney took pleasure in monikers assigned to him by critics such as the dark character and the dark figure, and by the concept that he was a sinister influence controlling Bush. In Peter Baker's 2013 book about the two, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is reported as stating: "Do I represent the sinister strategist in the shadows that nobody ever sees come out of his lair? It's a effective way to work, in fact."
Commercial Ties
Controversy over his corporate affiliations pursued him through his period as VP. While he had little experience in corporate affairs but good contacts in defence, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's largest oil and gas companies, in 1995 as chair and top executive.
In 2000 he was selected as Bush's VP candidate for the executive branch. Controversially, during the military campaign, Halliburton was given US contracts worth billions.
It significantly boosted his finances. His annual income during his period at the firm rose from his $258,394 during his time as military head to over four million. When he resigned in 2000 he had a package totaling in excess of $20m|twenty
