The late US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who died at age 84, was seen as among the most significant occupants of that position in American history. While many vice-presidents were confined to marginal or figurehead functions, Cheney held enormous power during the administration of George W Bush, so much so that he was commonly called as the "actual president".
Bush objected to this portrayal and said the connection was more complicated. He noted that Cheney was deferential, always referring to him in public as Mr President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush challenged even portrayals of their association as a partnership because it implied that they were on equal footing. Regardless of these denials, Cheney viewed the laidback president accommodating on a whole raft of policy decisions.
The Aftermath of 9/11
At the head of a faction of conservative hawks that included Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in reaction to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 assault, Bush had been attending a gathering at a elementary school in Florida. While Bush headed for a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, commanding the shooting down of any unidentified airplanes approaching the Capitol building.
Cheney claimed the assaults transformed him, making him become focused on retaliation. In conjunction with other neo-cons, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a invasion of Afghanistan in an attempt to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the military action of Iraq, though there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein playing a role.
Controversial Policies
He voiced no apologies about the military campaign, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis died, and not about the harsh treatment of individuals apprehended after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was predicated on inaccurate reports circulated by Cheney, was the right path to take. "It proved to be the proper decision to do at that time. I believed it then and I hold that view today."
Yet during that period, there were contrary opinions 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 retained from the position. "I witnessed, at the very least," he subsequently stated "clear negligence, inaction, and recklessness: potentially, lying, ineptitude, and dishonesty."
Additional Factors
Cheney was not solely accountable for the Iraq military action. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for comparable steps. He had written a memo detailing circumstances in which American interests might be endangered (featuring "obtaining crucial commodities, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "the United States should be prepared to operate alone when joint efforts cannot be orchestrated," specifically referencing armed actions against Iraq.
Bush additionally had arrived in the White House vaguely intent on executing what his parent had notably declined to do in 1991; topple Saddam. After he had been dismissed by the president, the finance chief Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his intention of diminishing America's involvement in the Middle East dispute and suggested armed intervention against Iraq.
Bush held a private grievance against Saddam, thinking he had been behind a scheme to kill his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally disliked that one of the most prominent hotels in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a image of his predecessor's countenance that everyone had to tread upon.
Questioning Techniques
However it was Cheney who was part of the most vociferous advocating striking Iraq, consistently referencing agency briefings that were both thin or completely deceptive. He supported what the Bush White House euphemistically referred to as "advanced techniques", the employment of simulated drowning and harsh treatment.
Answering a Senate document in 2014 that found that no useful information had resulted from the interrogation methods, Cheney dismissed the report as "riddled with crap". He told Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to implement measures and put in place programmes to apprehend the individuals who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it never happened again. That's exactly what they did and they merit a lot of credit."
External Perception
Cheney took pleasure in monikers given to him by detractors such as the Star Wars villain and The Prince of Darkness, and by the notion that he was a dark force controlling Bush. In the author's 2013 volume about the pair, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is reported as stating: "Is it me who is the evil genius in the background that operates invisibly leave his hole? It's a nice way to operate, truthfully."
Business Interests
Controversy over his business interests accompanied him throughout his time as vice-president. Even though he had little experience in corporate affairs but established relationships in security, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's biggest petroleum corporations, in 1995 as chairman and chief executive.
In 2000 he became Bush's running mate for the presidency. Debatably, during the military campaign, Halliburton was granted US contracts worth multiple billions.
It significantly boosted his finances. His yearly compensation during his tenure at the company rose from his previous salary during his time as defence secretary to over four million. When he left in 2000 he had a severance arrangement totaling in excess of $20m|twenty
