The deceased US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who passed away at age 84, was considered among the most influential holders of that office in the nation's history. While many vice-presidents had to settle for marginal or symbolic functions, Cheney exercised enormous power during the term of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was commonly referred to as the "actual president".
Bush disliked this portrayal and stated the relationship was more nuanced. He observed that Cheney was deferential, invariably calling him in official appearances as the President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush questioned even portrayals of their association as a team because it suggested that they were on equal footing. In spite of these denials, Cheney found the laidback president accommodating on a whole raft of administrative determinations.
The Post-9/11 Era
In charge of a contingent of neo-cons that featured military head Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense 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. At the time of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been participating in a session at a educational institution in Florida. Whereas Bush traveled to a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney took command, ordering the destruction of any unidentified aircraft approaching the Capitol building.
Cheney stated the assaults altered his perspective, making him become determined on retribution. Together with other conservative figures, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a invasion of Afghanistan in an attempt to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the military action of Iraq, although there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Debated Actions
He voiced no apologies about the military campaign, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis died, nor about the harsh treatment of detainees rounded up after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was predicated on faulty information circulated by Cheney, was the proper decision. "It proved to be the right thing to do at that time. I believed it at the time and I believe it presently."
Yet even at the time, there were opposing views at a top tier about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the White House's own special envoys to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the role. "I witnessed, at a minimum," he wrote later "clear negligence, negligence, and unaccountability: at worst, lying, ineptitude, and dishonesty."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not completely accountable for the Iraq military action. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for such action. He had composed a memo detailing scenarios in which US concerns might be threatened (encompassing "access to crucial commodities, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "the US should be prepared to operate alone when collective action cannot be orchestrated," explicitly referencing armed actions against Iraq.
Bush additionally had assumed the White House somewhat determined on executing what his parent had notably declined to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. Following he had been sacked by the president, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his plan of reducing America's participation in the Middle East dispute and mooted military action against Iraq.
Bush carried a individual resentment against Saddam, thinking he had been responsible for a conspiracy to kill his father, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He also resented that one of the largest accommodations in Baghdad had a floor mural with a image of his parent's visage that each person had to walk over.
Interrogation Methods
Yet it was Cheney who was one of the most outspoken behind striking Iraq, consistently citing agency briefings that were either insubstantial or completely misleading. He supported what the Bush administration indirectly described as "advanced techniques", the application of simulated drowning and torture.
Responding to a Senate report in 2014 that determined that no actionable intelligence had resulted from the harsh techniques, Cheney disregarded the report as "full of crap". He told Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to take steps and put in place programmes to apprehend the bastards who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it never happened again. That's exactly what they did and they merit a lot of recognition."
External Perception
Cheney enjoyed nicknames given to him by critics such as Darth Vader and the sinister presence, and by the notion that he was a sinister influence directing Bush. In Peter Baker's 2013 publication about the two, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is reported as stating: "Is it me who is the malevolent mastermind in the background that nobody ever sees leave his hole? It's a nice way to function, actually."
Business Interests
Debate over his business interests pursued him during his tenure as second-in-command. While he had limited background in business but strong connections in defence, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial energy corporations, in 1995 as chairman and CEO.
In 2000 he was selected as Bush's running mate for the executive branch. Contentiously, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was awarded US contracts valued at multiple billions.
It greatly increased his wealth. His yearly earnings during his period at the company rose from his quarter-million dollars during his time as Pentagon chief to millions. When he resigned in 2000 he had a severance arrangement valued at more than $20m|twenty
