The deceased US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who died at age 84, was regarded as arguably the most significant incumbents of that office in American history. Whereas many vice-presidents were limited to marginal or symbolic positions, Cheney wielded huge influence during the administration of George W Bush, so much so that he was often referred to as the "real president".
Bush objected to this portrayal and said the relationship was more nuanced. He noted that Cheney was respectful, invariably addressing him in public as Mr President, while he called him as Dick. Bush challenged even characterisations of their partnership as a collaboration because it suggested that they were on equal footing. Despite these denials, Cheney viewed the easygoing president accommodating on a whole raft of policy decisions.
A Aftermath of 9/11
At the head of a contingent of neo-conservatives that encompassed military head Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in response to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 assault, Bush had been taking part in a meeting at a elementary school in Florida. While Bush headed for a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney took command, commanding the downing of any non-communicating aircraft heading toward the US Capitol.
Cheney claimed the assaults altered his perspective, making him become focused on retribution. In conjunction with other conservative figures, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a takeover of Afghanistan in an endeavor to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the invasion of Iraq, although there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein having involvement.
Controversial Decisions
He expressed no regrets about the armed intervention, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, nor about the enhanced interrogation of suspects captured after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was predicated on faulty information echoed by Cheney, was the correct decision. "It was the right thing to do then. I had faith back then and I believe it today."
But even then, 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 "true dereliction, negligence, and recklessness: potentially, lying, ineptitude, and corruption."
Additional Factors
Cheney was not entirely accountable for the Iraq military action. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for similar measures. He had written a memo setting out situations in which national priorities might be endangered (featuring "availability of vital raw materials, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "America should be positioned to operate alone when collective action prove impossible," particularly referencing military moves against Iraq.
Bush also had entered the Oval Office somewhat determined on executing what his father had specifically avoided to do in 1991; topple Saddam. After he had been fired by the White House, the finance chief Paul O'Neill disclosed how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had announced his plan of diminishing America's involvement in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and mooted defense operations against Iraq.
Bush carried a personal grudge against Saddam, believing he had been responsible for a scheme to assassinate his parent, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He also resented that one of the biggest accommodations in Baghdad had a floor mural with a image of his predecessor's countenance that each person had to walk over.
Interrogation Methods
Yet it was Cheney who was one of the most outspoken supporting invading Iraq, consistently citing agency briefings that were both insubstantial or totally inaccurate. He backed what the Bush administration indirectly described as "enhanced interrogation", the use of interrogation method and physical pressure.
Responding to a Senate document in 2014 that determined that no actionable intelligence had resulted from the interrogation methods, Cheney disregarded the conclusions as "loaded with crap". He informed Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to implement measures and create procedures to capture the perpetrators who took the lives of 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it was not repeated. That's exactly what they did and they earn a lot of credit."
Public Image
Cheney took pleasure in nicknames given to him by detractors such as the Star Wars villain and The Prince of Darkness, and by the idea that he was a sinister influence manipulating Bush. In Peter Baker's 2013 publication about the pair, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is cited as commenting: "Do I represent the evil genius in the corner that nobody ever sees come out of his domain? That is a nice way to work, in fact."
Business Interests
Controversy over his corporate affiliations pursued him through his period as vice-president. Even though he had minimal expertise in commerce but strong connections in security, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial energy companies, in 1995 as leader and CEO.
In 2000 he became Bush's election partner for the executive branch. Controversially, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was awarded US contracts valued at billions.
It made him rich. His yearly compensation during his time at the corporation grew from his $258,394 when he was Pentagon chief to over four million. When he resigned in 2000 he had a severance arrangement worth more than $20m|twenty
