The deceased US VP Dick Cheney, who passed away at age 84, was considered arguably the most influential holders of that position in US history. Although countless second-in-commands were limited to peripheral or figurehead functions, Cheney held substantial influence during the administration of George W Bush, to the point that he was commonly referred to as the "actual president".
Bush resented that description and stated the connection was more complex. He pointed out that Cheney was deferential, always calling him in public as President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush questioned even portrayals of their relationship as a collaboration because it suggested that they were peers. In spite of such protestations, Cheney considered the easygoing president accommodating on a whole raft of policy decisions.
A Period Following the Attacks
In charge of a contingent of conservative hawks that featured military head Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the military intervention of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 strike, Bush had been participating in a meeting at a educational institution in Florida. As Bush traveled to a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney took command, ordering the destruction of any non-communicating airplanes nearing the government building.
Cheney stated the attacks transformed him, making him become intent on revenge. In conjunction with other neo-cons, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a occupation of Afghanistan in an endeavor to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the invasion of Iraq, although there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein having involvement.
Controversial Decisions
He showed no remorse about the invasion, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis perished, or about the enhanced interrogation of detainees captured after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was founded on inaccurate intelligence repeated by Cheney, was the correct course of action. "It proved to be the right thing to do then. I was convinced at the time and I hold that view presently."
However during that period, there were dissenting voices at a high level about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the administration's own special envoys to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the role. "I saw, at a minimum," he subsequently stated "obvious failure, negligence, and unaccountability: at worst, lying, unfitness, and dishonesty."
Additional Factors
Cheney was not entirely responsible for the Iraq invasion. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for comparable steps. He had composed a memo outlining scenarios in which US concerns might be threatened (encompassing "obtaining essential resources, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "America should be positioned to operate alone when joint efforts cannot be orchestrated," specifically citing defense operations against Iraq.
Bush too had entered the White House generally inclined on executing what his parent had specifically avoided to do in 1991; topple Saddam. After he had been dismissed by the White House, the finance chief Paul O'Neill disclosed how, at the first meeting of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his intention of lowering America's involvement in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and mooted defense operations against Iraq.
Bush bore a individual resentment against Saddam, convinced he had been responsible for a conspiracy to kill his parent, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He also disliked that one of the most prominent establishments in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a portrait of his father's countenance that everyone had to step on.
Investigation Approaches
Yet it was Cheney who was one of the most vehement supporting invading Iraq, repeatedly referencing agency briefings that were either thin or totally deceptive. He supported what the Bush administration euphemistically referred to as "advanced techniques", the employment of simulated drowning and physical pressure.
Answering a Senate report in 2014 that found that no actionable intelligence had come from the harsh techniques, Cheney dismissed the conclusions as "loaded with crap". He informed Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to implement measures and put in place initiatives to apprehend the individuals who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it never happened again. That was specifically what they did and they merit a lot of recognition."
Public Persona
Cheney reveled in labels imposed on him by opponents such as the Star Wars villain and the sinister presence, and by the idea that he was a shadow power manipulating Bush. In the author's 2013 publication about the two, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is quoted as saying: "Do I represent the sinister strategist in the shadows that operates invisibly emerge from his domain? It's a nice way to work, in fact."
Corporate Connections
Controversy over his business interests pursued him during his tenure as vice-president. Even though he had limited background in corporate affairs but established relationships in security, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's largest petroleum conglomerates, in 1995 as leader and top executive.
In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's VP candidate for the White House. Debatably, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was awarded US deals totaling substantial sums.
It significantly boosted his finances. His yearly compensation during his period at the company increased from his previous salary while military head to over four million. When he resigned in 2000 he had a compensation package totaling more than $20m|twenty
