The deceased US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who passed away at age 84, was considered arguably the most influential occupants of that position in American history. Whereas numerous VPs had to settle for peripheral or symbolic functions, Cheney held enormous sway during the administration of George W Bush, so much so that he was frequently described as the "actual president".
Bush disliked this portrayal and claimed the dynamic was more complicated. He pointed out that Cheney was deferential, always calling him in public as the President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush questioned even portrayals of their partnership as a team because it implied that they were equals. In spite of such protestations, Cheney considered the relaxed president malleable on a broad range of administrative determinations.
A Period Following the Attacks
At the head of a contingent of conservative hawks that featured Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the military intervention of Iraq in 2003 in reaction to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. During of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been attending a gathering at a educational institution in Florida. As Bush traveled to a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, commanding the downing of any non-communicating planes heading toward the US Capitol.
Cheney said the strikes altered his perspective, causing him to be focused on retaliation. Together with other conservative figures, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a takeover of Afghanistan in an effort to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the invasion of Iraq, although there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Debated Actions
He showed no remorse about the armed intervention, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis perished, and not about the harsh treatment of detainees apprehended after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was based on faulty intelligence circulated by Cheney, was the proper decision. "It was the proper decision to do back then. I had faith then and I hold that view presently."
Yet during that period, there were opposing views at a high level about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the government's own representatives to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the role. "I observed, as a baseline," he wrote later "clear negligence, inaction, and irresponsibility: at worst, falsehoods, incompetence, and corruption."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not solely accountable for the Iraq invasion. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for similar measures. He had composed a document detailing circumstances in which US concerns might be endangered (including "availability of essential resources, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "the United States should be postured to take unilateral action when joint efforts cannot be orchestrated," specifically citing defense operations against Iraq.
Bush too had assumed the Oval Office vaguely intent on executing what his parent had specifically avoided to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. After he had been sacked by the president, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his objective of lowering America's engagement in the regional tensions and mooted defense operations against Iraq.
Bush bore a individual resentment against Saddam, thinking he had been responsible for a plot to kill his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally disliked that one of the biggest accommodations in Baghdad had a ground design with a image of his father's face that each person had to tread upon.
Interrogation Methods
Yet it was Cheney who was among the most vociferous supporting attacking Iraq, consistently referencing agency briefings that were whether insubstantial or entirely deceptive. He endorsed what the Bush White House euphemistically referred to as "advanced techniques", the employment of interrogation method and torture.
Responding to a Senate document in 2014 that found that no valuable data had been obtained through the harsh techniques, Cheney rejected the findings as "riddled with crap". He informed Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to take steps and put in place initiatives to catch the perpetrators who took the lives of 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 praise."
Public Persona
Cheney took pleasure in monikers assigned to him by critics such as the dark character and the dark figure, and by the idea that he was a dark force controlling Bush. In Peter Baker's 2013 publication about the two, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is reported as stating: "Do I represent the evil genius in the background that nobody ever sees leave his lair? This represents a nice way to function, actually."
Business Interests
Debate over his business interests followed him during his tenure as VP. Even though he had minimal expertise in commerce but established relationships in security, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's biggest energy corporations, in 1995 as chair and CEO.
In 2000 he became Bush's running mate for the presidency. Controversially, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was given US deals valued at substantial sums.
It significantly boosted his finances. His yearly earnings during his time at the corporation increased from his quarter-million dollars when he was Pentagon chief to over four million. When he departed in 2000 he had a package worth over $20m|twenty
