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 American history. While numerous vice-presidents were limited to peripheral or figurehead roles, Cheney held substantial sway during the administration of George W Bush, so much so that he was commonly described as the "actual president".
Bush objected to such a characterisation and stated the relationship was more nuanced. He noted that Cheney was respectful, always calling him in public as President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush questioned even portrayals of their partnership as a collaboration because it indicated that they were equals. In spite of such protestations, Cheney found the laidback president pliable on a wide array of policy decisions.
The Post-9/11 Era
In charge of a faction of neo-conservatives that encompassed defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in response to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been participating in a gathering at a educational institution in Florida. While Bush headed for a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, commanding the destruction of any unidentified planes approaching the government building.
Cheney stated the assaults changed him, causing him to be focused on retaliation. Together with other conservative figures, including 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, even though there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein having involvement.
Controversial Policies
He expressed no regrets about the invasion, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, and not about the waterboarding of individuals rounded up after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was founded on inaccurate information echoed by Cheney, was the correct course of action. "It proved to be the correct action to do back then. I had faith back then and I maintain that stance now."
However during that period, there were opposing views at a high level about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the administration's own representatives to the Middle East, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the position. "I observed, as a baseline," he later wrote "obvious failure, negligence, and unaccountability: in the worst case, falsehoods, incompetence, and corruption."
Broader Context
Cheney was not entirely responsible for the Iraq campaign. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for comparable steps. He had composed a memorandum outlining circumstances in which national priorities might be threatened (encompassing "obtaining vital raw materials, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "the United States should be positioned to operate alone when cooperative measures cannot be arranged," specifically mentioning armed actions against Iraq.
Bush also had entered the presidency generally inclined on implementing what his father had specifically avoided to do in 1991; topple Saddam. After he had been sacked by the president, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the first meeting of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his objective of lowering America's engagement in the regional tensions and suggested defense operations against Iraq.
Bush carried a individual resentment against Saddam, thinking he had been responsible for a scheme to assassinate his parent, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally objected to that one of the biggest accommodations in Baghdad had a floor mural with a portrait of his predecessor's face that all visitors had to tread upon.
Investigation Approaches
Yet it was Cheney who was part of the most vociferous supporting striking Iraq, frequently quoting agency briefings that were either thin or completely deceptive. He backed what the Bush White House politely called as "advanced techniques", the employment of interrogation method and harsh treatment.
Responding to a Senate report in 2014 that concluded that no actionable intelligence had resulted from the torture, Cheney dismissed the report as "loaded with crap". He stated to Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to implement measures and establish initiatives to capture the individuals who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it never happened again. That is precisely what they did and they deserve a lot of recognition."
External Perception
Cheney reveled in labels given to him by opponents such as the Star Wars villain and The Prince of Darkness, and by the notion that he was a shadow power manipulating Bush. In the journalist's 2013 publication about the two, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is cited as commenting: "Am I the sinister strategist in the shadows that nobody ever sees leave his hole? That is a nice way to work, actually."
Corporate Connections
Debate over his commercial relationships pursued him throughout his time as vice-president. While he had limited background in business but good contacts in defence, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's largest energy corporations, in 1995 as leader and top executive.
In 2000 he was selected as Bush's election partner for the presidency. Contentiously, during the military campaign, Halliburton was granted US deals worth multiple billions.
It significantly boosted his finances. His annual income during his time at the firm increased from his previous salary when he was military head to $4.4m. When he resigned in 2000 he had a package worth over $20m|twenty
