The deceased US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who died at age 84, was seen as one of the most significant holders of that office in the nation's history. Although countless vice-presidents were confined to marginal or symbolic roles, Cheney exercised huge sway during the presidency of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was often referred to as the "actual president".
Bush resented that description and said the connection was more complex. He observed that Cheney was deferential, always addressing him in official appearances as the President, while he called him as Dick. Bush challenged even portrayals of their relationship as a team because it implied that they were on equal footing. Regardless of such protestations, Cheney viewed the relaxed president malleable on a broad range of administrative determinations.
A Post-9/11 Era
In charge of a faction of conservative hawks that included military head Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the invasion of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the September 11th attacks on New York and Washington. At the time of the 9/11 strike, Bush had been taking part in a session at a elementary school in Florida. While Bush made his way to a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, commanding the shooting down of any unresponsive airplanes heading toward the US Capitol.
Cheney stated the strikes changed him, causing him to be intent on revenge. In conjunction with other neo-conservatives, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a occupation of Afghanistan in an attempt to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the invasion of Iraq, although there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Disputed Policies
He showed no remorse about the armed intervention, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis perished, nor about the harsh treatment of suspects captured after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was based on inaccurate reports repeated by Cheney, was the right decision. "It was the right thing to do then. I was convinced back then and I hold that view now."
But during that period, there were dissenting voices at a high level about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the administration's own representatives to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the role. "I witnessed, at a minimum," he later wrote "clear negligence, negligence, and irresponsibility: in the worst case, lying, incompetence, and graft."
Additional Factors
Cheney was not entirely to blame for the Iraq invasion. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for such action. He had drafted a memo setting out situations in which national priorities might be compromised (featuring "access to vital raw materials, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "the United States should be postured to take unilateral action when collective action cannot be orchestrated," particularly referencing armed actions against Iraq.
Bush additionally had entered the White House generally inclined on executing what his parent had famously refused to do in 1991; topple Saddam. After he had been dismissed by the president, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill disclosed how, at the first meeting of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his plan of lowering America's participation in the regional tensions and proposed armed intervention against Iraq.
Bush held a personal grudge against Saddam, believing he had been behind a scheme to kill his father, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally disliked that one of the biggest hotels in Baghdad had a ground design with a portrait of his father's face that everyone had to step on.
Investigation Approaches
Yet it was Cheney who was one of the most vociferous behind striking Iraq, frequently referencing intelligence reports that were either thin or entirely inaccurate. He endorsed what the Bush White House politely called as "intensive questioning", the employment of interrogation method and physical pressure.
Responding to a Senate analysis in 2014 that determined that no valuable data had been obtained through the harsh techniques, Cheney dismissed the conclusions as "riddled with crap". He stated to Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to implement measures and establish initiatives to apprehend the perpetrators who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it was not repeated. That is precisely what they did and they deserve a lot of recognition."
Public Persona
Cheney enjoyed nicknames given to him by critics such as Darth Vader and the sinister presence, and by the notion that he was a shadow power manipulating Bush. In Peter Baker's 2013 book about the duo, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is reported as stating: "Am I the malevolent mastermind in the shadows that operates invisibly leave his domain? It's a advantageous way to operate, actually."
Corporate Connections
Dispute over his corporate affiliations followed him throughout his time as VP. While he had minimal expertise in commerce but good contacts in military, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's largest oil and gas corporations, in 1995 as chairman and top executive.
In 2000 he became Bush's VP candidate for the presidency. Contentiously, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was given US contracts valued at substantial sums.
It significantly boosted his finances. His yearly compensation during his tenure at the corporation rose from his previous salary while Pentagon chief to $4.4m. When he departed in 2000 he had a severance arrangement valued at in excess of $20m|twenty
