The former US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who died at the age of 84, was regarded as one of the most powerful holders of the vice-presidency in the nation's history. Although countless second-in-commands were limited to peripheral or figurehead positions, Cheney held huge sway during the presidency of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was commonly called as the "real president".
Bush disliked this portrayal and stated the connection was more complicated. He observed that Cheney was respectful, consistently referring to him in official appearances as Mr President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush challenged even portrayals of their association as a team because it implied that they were peers. Regardless of these denials, Cheney considered the laidback president pliable on a whole raft of governmental choices.
A Aftermath of 9/11
Leading of a contingent of conservative hawks that included Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the invasion of Iraq in 2003 in reaction to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. During of the 9/11 assault, Bush had been participating in a gathering at a school in Florida. Whereas Bush traveled to a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, directing the shooting down of any unresponsive planes nearing the US Capitol.
Cheney claimed the strikes altered his perspective, causing him to be focused on retribution. Along with other neo-cons, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a occupation of Afghanistan in an endeavor to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then pressed fiercely for the military action of Iraq, even though there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein playing a role.
Disputed Actions
He voiced no apologies about the armed intervention, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis perished, nor about the enhanced interrogation of detainees apprehended after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was founded on misleading information echoed by Cheney, was the correct course of action. "It proved to be the right thing to do then. I believed it then and I hold that view today."
However even then, there were dissenting voices at a top tier about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the administration's own special envoys to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the role. "I observed, at the very least," he wrote later "obvious failure, inaction, and recklessness: in the worst case, deception, incompetence, and dishonesty."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not completely accountable for the Iraq invasion. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for such action. He had composed a memorandum outlining circumstances in which American interests might be compromised (encompassing "access to crucial commodities, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "the United States should be positioned to act independently when collective action cannot be orchestrated," particularly referencing defense operations against Iraq.
Bush too had entered the White House vaguely intent on executing what his predecessor had notably declined to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. Subsequent to he had been sacked 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 military action against Iraq.
Bush carried a personal grudge against Saddam, believing he had been involved in a conspiracy to assassinate his parent, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally objected to that one of the biggest hotels in Baghdad had a ground design with a likeness of his parent's face that all visitors had to step on.
Investigation Approaches
However it was Cheney who was one of the most vehement supporting invading Iraq, consistently referencing intelligence reports that were whether thin or completely misleading. He supported what the Bush government politely called as "advanced techniques", the use of simulated drowning and physical pressure.
Responding to a Senate document in 2014 that determined that no useful information had resulted from the torture, Cheney disregarded the findings as "full of crap". He stated to Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to implement measures and put in place programmes to apprehend the bastards who took the lives of 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it never happened again. That's exactly what they did and they deserve a lot of recognition."
Public Persona
Cheney enjoyed labels assigned to him by critics such as the dark character and the sinister presence, and by the concept that he was a dark force directing Bush. In Peter Baker's 2013 book about the duo, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is quoted as saying: "Is it me who is the evil genius in the background that nobody ever sees come out of his hole? That is a effective way to function, truthfully."
Commercial Ties
Controversy over his business interests accompanied him throughout his time as VP. Even though he had minimal expertise in business but established relationships in security, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's largest petroleum corporations, in 1995 as chair and top executive.
In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's election partner for the White House. Debatably, during the military campaign, Halliburton was granted US contracts worth billions.
It greatly increased his wealth. His yearly earnings during his period at the corporation increased from his $258,394 when he was military head to over four million. When he left in 2000 he had a package totaling over $20m|twenty
