The late US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who passed away at the age of 84, was considered among the most influential holders of that position in US history. While many VPs had to settle for marginal or ceremonial functions, Cheney exercised substantial influence during the term of George W Bush, so much so that he was often referred to as the "actual president".
Bush resented that description and stated the connection was more nuanced. He pointed out that Cheney was respectful, consistently referring to him in public as Mr President, while he called him as Dick. Bush challenged even portrayals of their relationship as a collaboration because it suggested that they were on equal footing. In spite of these denials, Cheney viewed the laidback president malleable on a whole raft of administrative determinations.
A Period Following the Attacks
In charge of a faction of neo-conservatives that included Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in reaction to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. At the time of the 9/11 strike, Bush had been attending a gathering at a educational institution in Florida. Whereas Bush headed for a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, ordering the shooting down of any non-communicating airplanes heading toward the US Capitol.
Cheney said the strikes transformed him, causing him to be intent on retribution. Together with other conservative figures, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a takeover of Afghanistan in an effort to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the armed intervention of Iraq, even though there was little proof of Saddam Hussein having involvement.
Controversial Decisions
He showed no remorse about the invasion, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, nor about the harsh treatment of individuals rounded up after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was predicated on faulty reports echoed by Cheney, was the proper path to take. "It represented the proper decision to do back then. I believed it then and I hold that view now."
But during that period, there were contrary opinions at a senior level about the poor management of Iraq. One of the administration's own representatives to the Middle East, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the post. "I witnessed, as a baseline," he subsequently stated "obvious failure, carelessness, and irresponsibility: at worst, falsehoods, ineptitude, and dishonesty."
Additional Factors
Cheney was not completely to blame for the Iraq military action. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for comparable steps. He had composed a memo detailing scenarios in which American interests might be threatened (encompassing "access to essential resources, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "America should be postured to take unilateral action when cooperative measures prove impossible," explicitly mentioning military moves against Iraq.
Bush too had arrived in the presidency generally inclined on implementing what his predecessor had famously refused to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. After he had been sacked by the administration, the finance chief Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had announced his intention of reducing America's involvement in the Middle East dispute and mooted armed intervention against Iraq.
Bush bore a private grievance against Saddam, believing he had been responsible for a scheme to assassinate his father, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally resented that one of the largest establishments in Baghdad had a ground design with a image of his predecessor's face that each person had to tread upon.
Questioning Techniques
However it was Cheney who was one of the most outspoken supporting striking Iraq, frequently quoting information documents that were whether weak or totally deceptive. He backed what the Bush government politely called as "enhanced interrogation", the employment of waterboarding and harsh treatment.
Answering a Senate document in 2014 that determined that no useful information had been obtained through the torture, Cheney rejected the conclusions as "full of crap". He stated to Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to take steps and establish procedures to apprehend the individuals who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it never happened again. That's exactly what they did and they earn a lot of recognition."
Public Persona
Cheney reveled in labels given to him by opponents such as Darth Vader and The Prince of Darkness, and by the concept that he was a dark force directing Bush. In the author's 2013 publication about the two, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is quoted as saying: "Is it me who is the malevolent mastermind in the background that nobody ever sees come out of his lair? It's a nice way to function, actually."
Commercial Ties
Dispute over his corporate affiliations followed him during his tenure as VP. Even though he had minimal expertise in business but strong connections in security, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's biggest energy corporations, in 1995 as chairman and CEO.
In 2000 he was selected as Bush's election partner for the executive branch. Contentiously, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was awarded US contracts valued at multiple billions.
It significantly boosted his finances. His yearly compensation during his period at the corporation grew from his $258,394 when he was defence secretary to $4.4m. When he departed in 2000 he had a compensation package valued at more than $20m|twenty
