The deceased US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who died at the age of 84, was seen as among the most influential incumbents of that position in US history. Whereas countless vice-presidents had to settle for peripheral or figurehead roles, Cheney held enormous sway during the presidency of George W Bush, so much so that he was commonly described as the "actual president".
Bush resented this portrayal and claimed the dynamic was more complicated. He observed that Cheney was courteous, consistently calling him in public as President, while he called him as Dick. Bush questioned even characterisations of their partnership as a partnership because it suggested that they were equals. Despite these objections, Cheney found the laidback president malleable on a wide array of policy decisions.
The Aftermath of 9/11
At the head of a contingent of conservative hawks that encompassed military head Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the invasion of Iraq in 2003 in reaction to the September 11th attacks on New York and Washington. During of the 9/11 assault, Bush had been taking part in a meeting at a school in Florida. While Bush traveled to a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, ordering the shooting down of any unidentified airplanes heading toward the government building.
Cheney said the attacks transformed him, leading him to become determined on retaliation. Along with other neo-conservatives, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a invasion of Afghanistan in an endeavor to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the armed intervention of Iraq, though there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein having involvement.
Disputed Decisions
He showed no remorse about the armed intervention, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, nor about the harsh treatment of detainees rounded up after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was based on inaccurate information circulated by Cheney, was the right decision. "It proved to be the correct action to do at that time. I was convinced at the time and I believe it today."
But during that period, there were opposing views at a high level about the botched execution of Iraq. One of the government's own delegates to the Middle East, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the post. "I witnessed, as a baseline," he subsequently stated "obvious failure, carelessness, and recklessness: at worst, deception, incompetence, and dishonesty."
Additional Factors
Cheney was not completely responsible for the Iraq military action. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for similar measures. He had written a memo detailing situations in which US concerns might be threatened (featuring "access to vital raw materials, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "America should be prepared to act independently when collective action cannot be arranged," explicitly referencing armed actions against Iraq.
Bush additionally had entered the Oval Office vaguely intent on executing what his father had specifically avoided to do in 1991; topple Saddam. Subsequent to he had been dismissed by the White House, the finance chief Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his plan of reducing America's participation in the Middle East dispute and mooted armed intervention against Iraq.
Bush held a individual resentment against Saddam, thinking he had been involved in a conspiracy to assassinate his father, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally resented that one of the most prominent accommodations in Baghdad had a floor mural with a portrait of his parent's visage that each person had to step on.
Investigation Approaches
But it was Cheney who was among the most vociferous behind invading Iraq, repeatedly quoting information documents that were whether insubstantial or entirely misleading. He backed what the Bush White House euphemistically referred to as "enhanced interrogation", the application of simulated drowning and torture.
Answering a Senate document in 2014 that found that no useful information had resulted from the torture, Cheney dismissed the conclusions as "loaded with crap". He told Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to establish protocols and create initiatives to catch the individuals who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it never happened again. That was specifically what they did and they deserve a lot of recognition."
External Perception
Cheney reveled in nicknames imposed on him by detractors such as the dark character and the dark figure, and by the concept that he was a sinister influence directing Bush. In Peter Baker's 2013 book about the duo, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is cited as commenting: "Is it me who is the malevolent mastermind in the background that remains unseen emerge from his lair? This represents a effective way to work, truthfully."
Commercial Ties
Controversy over his commercial relationships followed him during his tenure as second-in-command. Although he had minimal expertise in business but established relationships in defence, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial energy conglomerates, in 1995 as chairman and top executive.
In 2000 he was selected as Bush's VP candidate for the White House. Controversially, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was given US deals valued at substantial sums.
It greatly increased his wealth. His yearly earnings during his period at the company rose from his previous salary during his time as military head to over four million. When he resigned in 2000 he had a compensation package valued at in excess of $20m|twenty
