The deceased US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who died at the age of 84, was considered among the most significant incumbents of that position in US history. Whereas numerous VPs were limited to peripheral or ceremonial functions, Cheney held huge power during the presidency of George W Bush, to the point that he was frequently called as the "actual president".
Bush resented such a characterisation and claimed the dynamic was more nuanced. He observed that Cheney was respectful, always referring to him in official appearances as the President, while he called him as Dick. Bush disputed even portrayals of their relationship as a partnership because it indicated that they were equals. In spite of these denials, Cheney viewed the relaxed president pliable on a wide array of administrative determinations.
The Period Following the Attacks
Leading of a faction of neo-conservatives that encompassed defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the armed incursion 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 taking part in a session at a elementary school in Florida. Whereas Bush traveled to a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, directing the shooting down of any unidentified planes nearing the Capitol building.
Cheney said the strikes transformed him, making him become focused on retaliation. Along with other conservative figures, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a takeover of Afghanistan in an effort to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the military action of Iraq, although there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein playing a role.
Debated Policies
He showed no remorse about the invasion, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, and not about the waterboarding of individuals apprehended after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was predicated on misleading intelligence circulated by Cheney, was the correct decision. "It proved to be the right thing to do then. I had faith at the time and I maintain that stance presently."
But during that period, there were opposing views at a high level about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the administration's own representatives to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the position. "I witnessed, at a minimum," he later wrote "clear negligence, carelessness, and recklessness: potentially, deception, unfitness, and dishonesty."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not completely responsible for the Iraq military action. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for similar measures. He had drafted a memo setting out situations in which national priorities might be threatened (encompassing "obtaining crucial commodities, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "the US should be postured to operate alone when cooperative measures cannot be orchestrated," explicitly citing defense operations against Iraq.
Bush additionally had arrived in the presidency generally inclined on executing what his parent had famously refused to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. Following he had been fired by the president, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his objective of lowering America's involvement in the regional tensions and mooted military action against Iraq.
Bush bore a individual resentment against Saddam, believing he had been involved in a scheme to murder his parent, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore disliked that one of the largest accommodations in Baghdad had a floor mural with a portrait of his predecessor's countenance that everyone had to tread upon.
Investigation Approaches
Yet it was Cheney who was one of the most vehement advocating invading Iraq, frequently quoting intelligence reports that were whether thin or totally deceptive. He backed what the Bush government euphemistically referred to as "enhanced interrogation", the employment of waterboarding and harsh treatment.
Answering a Senate report in 2014 that found that no useful information had been obtained through the interrogation methods, Cheney disregarded the conclusions as "full of crap". He stated to Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to implement measures and create programmes to apprehend the individuals who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it was not repeated. That is precisely what they did and they earn a lot of praise."
Public Image
Cheney enjoyed labels given to him by critics such as the Star Wars villain and the dark figure, and by the idea that he was a sinister influence directing Bush. In Peter Baker's 2013 volume about the two, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is cited as commenting: "Do I represent the evil genius in the corner that operates invisibly emerge from his lair? This represents a nice way to work, actually."
Commercial Ties
Debate over his corporate affiliations pursued him during his tenure as vice-president. While he had minimal expertise in commerce but established relationships in military, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's largest energy companies, in 1995 as leader and chief executive.
In 2000 he became Bush's running mate for the presidency. Controversially, during the military campaign, Halliburton was granted US contracts worth multiple billions.
It made him rich. His yearly earnings during his period at the corporation grew from his $258,394 when he was defence secretary to over four million. When he departed in 2000 he had a package valued at more than $20m|twenty
