The late US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who died at the age of 84, was regarded as one of the most influential holders of the vice-presidency in the nation's history. While numerous vice-presidents had to settle for minor or figurehead functions, Cheney wielded substantial sway during the administration of George W Bush, to the point that he was often called as the "actual president".
Bush objected to such a characterisation and claimed the relationship was more complex. He noted that Cheney was respectful, consistently referring to him in public as President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush disputed even descriptions of their association as a partnership because it suggested that they were on equal footing. Despite these objections, Cheney considered the easygoing president accommodating on a broad range of governmental choices.
A Aftermath of 9/11
At the head of a contingent of conservative hawks that included military head Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the invasion of Iraq in 2003 in response to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 assault, Bush had been taking part in a gathering at a elementary school in Florida. While Bush traveled to a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney took command, directing the shooting down of any unidentified airplanes approaching the government building.
Cheney claimed the attacks transformed him, making him become intent on retaliation. Along with other conservative figures, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a invasion of Afghanistan in an attempt to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the invasion of Iraq, although there was little proof of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Controversial Decisions
He showed no remorse about the military campaign, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis perished, or about the enhanced interrogation of suspects captured after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was founded on inaccurate information circulated by Cheney, was the proper path to take. "It represented the right thing to do then. I believed it at the time and I maintain that stance today."
Yet even at the time, there were opposing views at a high level about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the government's own representatives to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the position. "I saw, as a baseline," he later wrote "clear negligence, negligence, and recklessness: potentially, falsehoods, unfitness, and graft."
Additional Factors
Cheney was not completely responsible for the Iraq invasion. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for such action. He had composed a memo detailing scenarios in which US concerns might be compromised (featuring "access to vital raw materials, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "the United States should be prepared to operate alone when collective action prove impossible," specifically referencing armed actions against Iraq.
Bush too had arrived in the White House generally inclined on carrying out what his father had notably declined to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. After he had been sacked by the administration, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the first meeting of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had announced his intention of lowering America's involvement in the Middle East dispute and proposed military action against Iraq.
Bush carried a individual resentment against Saddam, thinking he had been involved in a scheme to kill his parent, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He also resented that one of the largest hotels in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a portrait of his predecessor's face that all visitors had to tread upon.
Investigation Approaches
Yet it was Cheney who was among the most outspoken behind striking Iraq, frequently referencing intelligence reports that were whether insubstantial or totally misleading. He supported what the Bush administration indirectly described as "advanced techniques", the application of simulated drowning and torture.
Responding to a Senate document in 2014 that concluded that no valuable data had been obtained through the torture, Cheney rejected the conclusions as "riddled with crap". He informed Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to establish protocols and put in place initiatives to capture the perpetrators who took the lives of 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it was not repeated. That is precisely what they did and they earn a lot of credit."
Public Persona
Cheney took pleasure in labels imposed on him by critics such as the Star Wars villain and the sinister presence, and by the idea that he was a dark force directing Bush. In Peter Baker's 2013 publication about the two, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is cited as commenting: "Is it me who is the evil genius in the shadows that operates invisibly leave his lair? This represents a advantageous way to function, actually."
Business Interests
Controversy over his commercial relationships accompanied him during his tenure as VP. While he had minimal expertise in corporate affairs but strong connections in security, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's largest energy companies, in 1995 as leader and chief executive.
In 2000 he became Bush's VP candidate for the White House. Debatably, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was granted US deals worth multiple billions.
It significantly boosted his finances. His yearly earnings during his period at the corporation grew from his previous salary when he was Pentagon chief to over four million. When he resigned in 2000 he had a severance arrangement totaling in excess of $20m|twenty
