The deceased US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who died at age 84, was seen as one of the most significant occupants of that office in American history. Whereas numerous second-in-commands were confined to minor or symbolic roles, Cheney held enormous sway during the presidency of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was frequently referred to as the "actual president".
Bush resented that description and stated the connection was more nuanced. He observed that Cheney was deferential, always addressing him in public settings as Mr President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush disputed even portrayals of their association as a team because it indicated that they were equals. Regardless of these denials, Cheney considered the easygoing president accommodating on a broad range of governmental choices.
A Post-9/11 Era
At the head of a contingent of conservative hawks that included defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the military intervention of Iraq in 2003 in response to the September 11th attacks on New York and Washington. At the time of the 9/11 strike, Bush had been attending a meeting at a elementary school in Florida. As Bush made his way to a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney took command, ordering the destruction of any unresponsive airplanes approaching the Capitol building.
Cheney said the assaults changed him, causing him to be determined on revenge. Together with other neo-cons, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a takeover of Afghanistan in an attempt to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the military action of Iraq, though there was little proof of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Debated Decisions
He expressed no regrets about the invasion, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis perished, nor about the enhanced interrogation of individuals rounded up after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was predicated on faulty intelligence circulated by Cheney, was the right path to take. "It was the correct action to do at that time. I believed it then and I maintain that stance presently."
But even at the time, there were opposing views at a top tier about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the government's own special envoys to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the post. "I saw, as a baseline," he wrote later "true dereliction, carelessness, and unaccountability: potentially, falsehoods, ineptitude, and dishonesty."
Additional Factors
Cheney was not solely to blame for the Iraq military action. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for comparable steps. He had written a memorandum outlining circumstances in which US concerns might be compromised (featuring "obtaining essential resources, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "America should be prepared to operate alone when joint efforts cannot be arranged," specifically citing military moves against Iraq.
Bush too had assumed the presidency generally inclined on executing what his father had notably declined to do in 1991; remove Saddam. After he had been dismissed by the administration, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill disclosed how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his plan of lowering America's participation in the Middle East dispute and suggested defense operations against Iraq.
Bush carried a private grievance against Saddam, believing he had been involved in a conspiracy to murder 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 floor mural with a portrait of his father's countenance that everyone had to tread upon.
Interrogation Methods
However it was Cheney who was part of the most vociferous behind attacking Iraq, repeatedly referencing information documents that were both weak or completely inaccurate. He supported what the Bush White House indirectly described as "enhanced interrogation", the use of waterboarding and physical pressure.
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 requested [the CIA] to take steps and establish programmes to capture the individuals who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it would not recur. That's exactly what they did and they merit a lot of credit."
Public Image
Cheney reveled in nicknames imposed on him by critics such as the dark character and the sinister presence, and by the idea that he was a sinister influence controlling Bush. In the journalist's 2013 publication about the two, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is cited as commenting: "Am I the evil genius in the corner that remains unseen come out of his domain? It's a advantageous way to function, in fact."
Business Interests
Controversy over his business interests followed him through his period as VP. Although he had little experience in commerce but good contacts in defence, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's biggest petroleum conglomerates, in 1995 as leader and chief executive.
In 2000 he was selected as Bush's running mate for the White House. Controversially, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was given US contracts worth billions.
It significantly boosted his finances. His yearly compensation during his tenure at the firm rose from his quarter-million dollars while military head to $4.4m. When he departed in 2000 he had a compensation package worth more than $20m|twenty
