The deceased US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who died at the age of 84, was regarded as among the most influential holders of that office in US history. While many vice-presidents were limited to peripheral or figurehead functions, Cheney exercised enormous sway during the administration of George W Bush, so much so that he was frequently described as the "true president".
Bush resented this portrayal and claimed the connection was more complicated. He pointed out that Cheney was deferential, invariably calling him in public as the President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush questioned even descriptions of their association as a partnership because it indicated that they were equals. Despite these objections, Cheney found the laidback president pliable on a broad range of administrative determinations.
A Aftermath of 9/11
In charge of a faction of neo-cons that included defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in reaction to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. At the time of the 9/11 assault, Bush had been attending a gathering at a school in Florida. While Bush headed for a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, ordering the destruction of any non-communicating aircraft heading toward the Capitol building.
Cheney claimed the strikes altered his perspective, leading him to become intent on retribution. Together with other neo-conservatives, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a takeover of Afghanistan in an endeavor to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the invasion of Iraq, though there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Controversial Decisions
He expressed no regrets about the invasion, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis died, and not about the harsh treatment of individuals apprehended after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was founded on misleading information circulated by Cheney, was the proper course of action. "It represented the correct action to do then. I believed it at the time and I hold that view today."
Yet even at the time, there were contrary opinions at a senior level about the botched execution of Iraq. One of the administration's own delegates to the Middle East, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the role. "I observed, at a minimum," he later wrote "true dereliction, negligence, and irresponsibility: in the worst case, lying, ineptitude, and dishonesty."
Additional Factors
Cheney was not completely accountable for the Iraq campaign. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for similar measures. He had written a memorandum detailing circumstances in which US concerns might be endangered (encompassing "obtaining essential resources, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "the United States should be positioned to act independently when cooperative measures prove impossible," explicitly mentioning defense operations against Iraq.
Bush also had entered the Oval Office vaguely intent on executing what his father had notably declined to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. Following he had been dismissed 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 stated his objective of reducing America's involvement in the Middle East dispute and suggested armed intervention against Iraq.
Bush held a individual resentment against Saddam, convinced he had been behind a conspiracy to assassinate his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He also objected to that one of the biggest accommodations in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a likeness of his father's visage that everyone had to tread upon.
Questioning Techniques
But it was Cheney who was one of the most vociferous supporting attacking Iraq, frequently referencing information documents that were both weak or totally inaccurate. He endorsed what the Bush White House politely called as "intensive questioning", the use of waterboarding and physical pressure.
Responding to a Senate analysis in 2014 that found that no valuable data had come from the harsh techniques, Cheney dismissed the conclusions as "loaded with crap". He stated to Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to establish protocols and establish programmes to capture the individuals who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it never happened again. That is precisely what they did and they earn a lot of recognition."
External Perception
Cheney took pleasure in labels imposed on him by opponents such as the dark character and the dark figure, and by the concept that he was a shadow power directing Bush. In the author'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 sinister strategist in the background that nobody ever sees come out of his lair? It's a advantageous way to operate, truthfully."
Business Interests
Controversy over his business interests pursued him throughout his time as VP. While he had little experience in corporate affairs but established relationships in military, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial oil and gas corporations, in 1995 as chairman and chief executive.
In 2000 he was selected as Bush's VP candidate for the presidency. Contentiously, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was given US contracts worth substantial sums.
It significantly boosted his finances. His annual income during his period at the company rose from his $258,394 during his time as defence secretary to $4.4m. When he left in 2000 he had a severance arrangement valued at more than $20m|twenty
