The late US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who passed away at the age of 84, was seen as arguably the most influential incumbents of that position in the nation's history. Whereas many VPs were limited to peripheral or ceremonial functions, Cheney held substantial influence during the presidency of George W Bush, so much so that he was commonly called as the "true president".
Bush disliked such a characterisation and stated the connection was more nuanced. He pointed out that Cheney was respectful, invariably referring to him in official appearances as the President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush questioned even characterisations of their partnership as a collaboration because it indicated that they were peers. Despite these objections, Cheney viewed the relaxed president pliable on a broad range of policy decisions.
A Aftermath of 9/11
In charge of a contingent of conservative hawks that featured defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the invasion of Iraq in 2003 in reaction to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. During of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been attending a meeting at a school in Florida. Whereas Bush headed for a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, ordering the downing of any unidentified planes nearing the US Capitol.
Cheney stated the assaults changed him, causing him to be determined on revenge. Along with other neo-conservatives, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a occupation of Afghanistan in an attempt to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then pressed fiercely for the invasion of Iraq, although there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein playing a role.
Controversial Policies
He expressed no regrets about the armed intervention, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis died, and not about the harsh treatment of detainees captured after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was based on misleading information echoed by Cheney, was the proper path to take. "It was the proper decision to do back then. I believed it at the time and I maintain that stance now."
However even then, there were dissenting voices at a high level about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the government's own delegates to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the role. "I saw, at the very least," he subsequently stated "clear negligence, negligence, and irresponsibility: at worst, falsehoods, ineptitude, and corruption."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not completely to blame for the Iraq campaign. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for such action. He had composed a document outlining situations in which American interests might be threatened (featuring "access to crucial commodities, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "America should be prepared to act independently when joint efforts prove impossible," particularly citing defense operations against Iraq.
Bush too had assumed the presidency somewhat determined on carrying out what his parent had notably declined to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. Following he had been fired by the administration, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill disclosed how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his plan of diminishing America's engagement in the regional tensions and suggested defense operations against Iraq.
Bush bore a personal grudge against Saddam, thinking he had been behind a scheme to murder his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore resented that one of the largest hotels in Baghdad had a floor mural with a image of his predecessor's visage that each person had to step on.
Interrogation Methods
However it was Cheney who was one of the most vehement supporting invading Iraq, frequently citing intelligence reports that were whether insubstantial or completely deceptive. He endorsed what the Bush administration euphemistically referred to as "intensive questioning", the application of interrogation method and harsh treatment.
Addressing a Senate document in 2014 that determined that no valuable data had been obtained through the torture, Cheney dismissed the findings as "riddled with crap". He informed Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to take steps and put in place initiatives to apprehend the bastards who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it would not recur. That is precisely what they did and they merit a lot of praise."
Public Image
Cheney reveled in labels assigned to him by detractors such as Darth Vader and the sinister presence, and by the concept that he was a sinister influence directing Bush. In the journalist's 2013 publication about the duo, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is reported as stating: "Is it me who is the sinister strategist in the shadows that remains unseen emerge from his lair? This represents a effective way to work, truthfully."
Business Interests
Controversy over his corporate affiliations pursued him through his period as vice-president. While he had minimal expertise in business but good contacts in military, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's biggest oil and gas companies, in 1995 as chairman and top executive.
In 2000 he was selected as Bush's election partner for the presidency. Contentiously, during the military campaign, Halliburton was given US agreements valued at substantial sums.
It greatly increased his wealth. His yearly earnings during his time at the corporation rose from his $258,394 while military head to millions. When he departed in 2000 he had a package totaling over $20m|twenty
