The deceased US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who passed away at age 84, was considered one of the most significant incumbents of the vice-presidency in American history. Although many second-in-commands had to settle for marginal or ceremonial roles, Cheney held huge power during the presidency of George W Bush, to the point that he was commonly described as the "actual president".
Bush resented this portrayal and stated the connection was more complex. He pointed out that Cheney was respectful, always referring to him in public settings as the President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush disputed even descriptions of their relationship as a team because it suggested that they were on equal footing. Regardless of such protestations, Cheney considered the relaxed president pliable on a wide array of administrative determinations.
A Post-9/11 Era
At the head of a contingent of conservative hawks that featured Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the invasion 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 attending a gathering at a school in Florida. While Bush made his way to a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney took command, ordering the downing of any unidentified airplanes nearing the US Capitol.
Cheney stated the strikes transformed him, causing him to be determined on retribution. Together with other neo-cons, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a occupation of Afghanistan in an effort to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the military action of Iraq, though there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Disputed Actions
He expressed no regrets about the invasion, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, nor about the harsh treatment of suspects rounded up after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was founded on misleading reports circulated by Cheney, was the correct decision. "It represented the correct action to do at that time. I believed it at the time and I believe it presently."
However even at the time, there were dissenting voices at a high level about the poor management of Iraq. One of the government's own representatives to the Middle East, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the role. "I saw, at a minimum," he subsequently stated "true dereliction, carelessness, and recklessness: at worst, deception, ineptitude, and dishonesty."
Additional Factors
Cheney was not entirely responsible for the Iraq military action. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for similar measures. He had composed a memorandum outlining scenarios in which national priorities might be compromised (featuring "obtaining vital raw materials, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "the United States should be prepared to act independently when joint efforts cannot be arranged," explicitly mentioning military moves against Iraq.
Bush too had arrived in the Oval Office somewhat determined on executing what his father had specifically avoided to do in 1991; topple Saddam. Subsequent to he had been sacked by the administration, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his plan of reducing America's engagement in the regional tensions and suggested defense operations against Iraq.
Bush held a individual resentment against Saddam, believing he had been behind a conspiracy to kill his parent, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore resented that one of the biggest accommodations in Baghdad had a ground design with a likeness of his parent's countenance that everyone had to walk over.
Interrogation Methods
However it was Cheney who was one of the most vehement advocating striking Iraq, consistently referencing information documents that were whether weak or completely inaccurate. He supported what the Bush White House euphemistically referred to as "intensive questioning", the application of waterboarding and physical pressure.
Answering a Senate analysis in 2014 that found that no valuable data had been obtained through the harsh techniques, Cheney dismissed the report as "loaded with crap". He told Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to take steps and establish procedures to capture the perpetrators who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it was not repeated. That's exactly what they did and they earn a lot of recognition."
External Perception
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 shadow power directing Bush. In Peter Baker's 2013 volume about the two, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is reported as stating: "Am I the sinister strategist in the background that operates invisibly emerge from his domain? This represents a nice way to work, truthfully."
Commercial Ties
Debate over his business interests accompanied him throughout his time as vice-president. While he had limited background in commerce but strong connections in defence, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's biggest oil and gas conglomerates, in 1995 as leader and top executive.
In 2000 he became Bush's VP candidate for the presidency. Contentiously, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was granted US contracts worth billions.
It made him rich. His yearly earnings during his tenure at the firm grew from his quarter-million dollars when he was defence secretary to $4.4m. When he departed in 2000 he had a severance arrangement totaling in excess of $20m|twenty
