The late US vice-president Dick Cheney, who passed away at the age of 84, was considered arguably the most influential incumbents of the vice-presidency in the nation's history. While many second-in-commands were confined to minor or symbolic roles, Cheney wielded enormous power during the administration of George W Bush, so much so that he was frequently described as the "true president".
Bush objected to that description and claimed the connection was more complex. He noted that Cheney was deferential, consistently addressing him in public as Mr President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush disputed even portrayals of their partnership as a collaboration because it indicated that they were on equal footing. Regardless of these denials, Cheney viewed the relaxed president malleable on a broad range of governmental choices.
A Aftermath of 9/11
Leading of a group of neo-cons that featured defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the invasion of Iraq in 2003 in reaction to the September 11th attacks on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been taking part in a meeting at a school in Florida. As Bush traveled to a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney took command, commanding the shooting down of any unidentified aircraft heading toward the Capitol building.
Cheney stated the attacks transformed him, leading him to become focused on retribution. Together with other conservative figures, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a occupation of Afghanistan in an attempt to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then pressed fiercely for the invasion of Iraq, even though there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein playing a role.
Controversial Policies
He expressed no regrets about the invasion, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, nor about the harsh treatment of suspects captured after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was based on faulty intelligence echoed by Cheney, was the correct decision. "It was the proper decision to do at that time. I was convinced at the time and I maintain that stance today."
However even at the time, there were opposing views at a top tier about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the White House's own special envoys to the Middle East, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the role. "I saw, at a minimum," he wrote later "true dereliction, carelessness, and unaccountability: at worst, deception, unfitness, and dishonesty."
Broader Context
Cheney was not completely responsible for the Iraq invasion. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for similar measures. He had composed a document detailing circumstances in which national priorities might be threatened (including "availability of essential resources, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "the US should be positioned to operate alone when collective action prove impossible," particularly citing defense operations against Iraq.
Bush additionally had entered the presidency generally inclined on executing what his predecessor had specifically avoided to do in 1991; remove Saddam. Subsequent to he had been sacked by the administration, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his plan of lowering America's engagement in the Middle East dispute and suggested defense operations against Iraq.
Bush bore a personal grudge against Saddam, convinced he had been behind a plot to assassinate his father, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally objected to that one of the largest hotels in Baghdad had a ground design with a image of his parent's countenance that each person had to walk over.
Investigation Approaches
Yet it was Cheney who was part of the most vociferous behind striking Iraq, consistently quoting intelligence reports that were whether thin or totally misleading. He backed what the Bush White House indirectly described as "advanced techniques", the employment of simulated drowning and harsh treatment.
Answering a Senate report in 2014 that concluded that no valuable data had been obtained through the torture, Cheney disregarded the report as "full of crap". He told Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to take steps and establish procedures to capture the individuals who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it was not repeated. That is precisely what they did and they deserve a lot of praise."
Public Image
Cheney enjoyed monikers given to him by detractors such as the dark character and the sinister presence, and by the idea that he was a sinister influence directing Bush. In the journalist's 2013 volume about the two, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is quoted as saying: "Is it me who is the malevolent mastermind in the corner that operates invisibly emerge from his lair? It's a nice way to function, in fact."
Corporate Connections
Dispute over his business interests followed him through his period as vice-president. While he had minimal expertise in commerce but good contacts in defence, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's biggest petroleum corporations, in 1995 as leader 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 contracts worth substantial sums.
It significantly boosted his finances. His yearly earnings during his period at the firm rose from his $258,394 during his time as Pentagon chief to over four million. When he left in 2000 he had a compensation package totaling in excess of $20m|twenty
