The deceased US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who passed away at the age of 84, was considered arguably the most significant incumbents of that position in American history. While many vice-presidents were confined to minor or figurehead roles, Cheney exercised substantial sway during the administration of George W Bush, so much so that he was frequently described as the "real president".
Bush objected to this portrayal and said the relationship was more complicated. He observed that Cheney was courteous, consistently referring to him in public as Mr President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush questioned even portrayals of their relationship as a partnership because it indicated that they were on equal footing. Despite these denials, Cheney viewed the easygoing president pliable on a broad range of governmental choices.
A Post-9/11 Era
Leading of a group of neo-cons that encompassed defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the armed incursion 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 taking part in a gathering at a educational institution in Florida. Whereas Bush traveled to a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney took command, ordering the destruction of any unidentified planes approaching the Capitol building.
Cheney claimed the attacks altered his perspective, leading him to become determined on revenge. In conjunction with other neo-conservatives, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a invasion of Afghanistan in an attempt to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the invasion of Iraq, even though there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein having involvement.
Disputed Policies
He expressed no regrets about the invasion, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, or about the waterboarding of suspects apprehended after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was predicated on misleading reports echoed by Cheney, was the correct decision. "It represented the right thing to do back then. I was convinced at the time and I maintain that stance today."
However during that period, there were dissenting voices at a top tier about the poor management of Iraq. One of the White House's own special envoys to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the role. "I witnessed, at the very least," he later wrote "true dereliction, negligence, and irresponsibility: potentially, lying, ineptitude, and dishonesty."
Additional Factors
Cheney was not completely to blame for the Iraq invasion. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for comparable steps. He had drafted a memorandum setting out situations in which national priorities might be compromised (including "availability of crucial commodities, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "the United States should be postured to operate alone when joint efforts cannot be arranged," specifically referencing armed actions against Iraq.
Bush too had entered the Oval Office vaguely intent on executing what his father had specifically avoided to do in 1991; topple Saddam. After he had been dismissed by the president, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill disclosed how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had announced his objective of diminishing America's engagement in the Middle East dispute and proposed defense operations against Iraq.
Bush bore a private grievance against Saddam, thinking he had been responsible for a conspiracy to assassinate his father, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He also objected to that one of the most prominent hotels in Baghdad had a floor mural with a likeness of his parent's visage that everyone had to tread upon.
Interrogation Methods
Yet it was Cheney who was among the most vehement supporting invading Iraq, repeatedly quoting agency briefings that were both weak or entirely deceptive. He endorsed what the Bush administration indirectly described as "intensive questioning", the employment of waterboarding and torture.
Answering a Senate document in 2014 that concluded that no useful information had been obtained through the torture, Cheney dismissed the findings as "full of crap". He told Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to establish protocols and create initiatives to catch the bastards who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it was not repeated. That was specifically what they did and they deserve a lot of credit."
External Perception
Cheney took pleasure in monikers assigned to him by opponents such as the Star Wars villain and the dark figure, and by the notion that he was a dark force directing Bush. In Peter Baker's 2013 book about the duo, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is cited as commenting: "Do I represent the sinister strategist in the shadows that operates invisibly leave his lair? That is a nice way to work, in fact."
Business Interests
Debate over his business interests followed him through his period as vice-president. Even though he had limited background in corporate affairs but strong connections in security, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial oil and gas corporations, in 1995 as leader and top executive.
In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's election partner for the presidency. Controversially, during the military campaign, Halliburton was granted US deals valued at multiple billions.
It made him rich. His yearly compensation during his tenure at the firm rose from his $258,394 when he was military head to over four million. When he departed in 2000 he had a severance arrangement worth over $20m|twenty
