The deceased US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who died at the age of 84, was regarded as among the most significant occupants of that office in the nation's history. Whereas countless vice-presidents were limited to minor or symbolic positions, Cheney wielded enormous power during the administration of George W Bush, to the point that he was often described as the "real president".
Bush disliked such a characterisation and claimed the dynamic was more complicated. He noted that Cheney was deferential, consistently referring to him in official appearances as the President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush challenged even characterisations of their partnership as a team because it indicated that they were equals. In spite of these denials, Cheney considered the relaxed president accommodating on a broad range of governmental choices.
The Post-9/11 Era
Leading of a contingent of conservative hawks that encompassed defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the military intervention of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 assault, Bush had been attending a session at a educational institution in Florida. While Bush headed for a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney took command, directing the destruction of any unresponsive planes nearing the US Capitol.
Cheney said the attacks altered his perspective, causing him to be focused on revenge. In conjunction with other neo-cons, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a takeover of Afghanistan in an endeavor to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then pressed fiercely for the invasion of Iraq, although there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Disputed Actions
He showed no remorse about the military campaign, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, and not about the enhanced interrogation of suspects captured after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was founded on inaccurate reports repeated by Cheney, was the right decision. "It proved to be the right thing to do back then. I was convinced at the time and I hold that view presently."
Yet even at the time, there were opposing views at a top tier about the poor management of Iraq. One of the administration's own representatives to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the position. "I observed, as a baseline," he wrote later "true dereliction, inaction, and recklessness: at worst, lying, unfitness, and graft."
Additional Factors
Cheney was not entirely to blame for the Iraq campaign. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for comparable steps. He had composed a memo outlining scenarios in which US concerns might be threatened (encompassing "access to essential resources, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "America should be prepared to operate alone when cooperative measures cannot be orchestrated," particularly referencing military moves against Iraq.
Bush additionally had assumed the White House generally inclined on executing what his father had specifically avoided to do in 1991; remove Saddam. Subsequent to he had been fired by the White House, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the first meeting of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had announced his intention of reducing America's engagement in the Middle East dispute and suggested defense operations against Iraq.
Bush carried a private grievance against Saddam, believing he had been behind a scheme to assassinate his father, 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 image of his parent's countenance that each person had to tread upon.
Interrogation Methods
Yet it was Cheney who was among the most vehement behind attacking Iraq, frequently referencing information documents that were whether insubstantial or entirely deceptive. He endorsed what the Bush administration euphemistically referred to as "advanced techniques", the application of interrogation method and torture.
Answering a Senate analysis in 2014 that concluded that no valuable data had resulted from the harsh techniques, Cheney rejected the conclusions as "riddled with crap". He told Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to take steps and establish initiatives to catch the bastards who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it was not repeated. That is precisely what they did and they deserve a lot of praise."
Public Image
Cheney reveled in monikers given to him by critics such as the Star Wars villain and the sinister presence, and by the notion that he was a shadow power controlling Bush. In Peter Baker'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 shadows that operates invisibly emerge from his lair? That is a advantageous way to operate, in fact."
Business Interests
Debate over his corporate affiliations accompanied him throughout his time as VP. While he had limited background in corporate affairs but established relationships in defence, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial oil and gas companies, in 1995 as chairman and top executive.
In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's election partner for the executive branch. Contentiously, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was given US contracts worth substantial sums.
It significantly boosted his finances. His annual income during his period at the firm rose from his previous salary while Pentagon chief to $4.4m. When he departed in 2000 he had a package worth more than $20m|twenty
