The deceased US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who died at age 84, was seen as one of the most significant incumbents of that office in American history. While numerous vice-presidents had to settle for peripheral or symbolic positions, Cheney exercised enormous power during the term of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was commonly described as the "true president".
Bush resented this portrayal and claimed the dynamic was more complex. He pointed out that Cheney was respectful, consistently calling him in public as Mr President, while he called him as Dick. Bush disputed even descriptions of their association as a partnership because it implied that they were on equal footing. In spite of these denials, Cheney found the laidback president pliable on a whole raft of administrative determinations.
A Period Following the Attacks
Leading of a group of neo-conservatives that included military head Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for 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 attending a meeting at a elementary school in Florida. As Bush headed for a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, directing the destruction of any unidentified airplanes nearing the government building.
Cheney stated the strikes transformed him, leading him to become intent on retribution. In conjunction with other conservative figures, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a invasion of Afghanistan in an endeavor to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then pressed fiercely for the military action of Iraq, even though there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Controversial Policies
He expressed no regrets about the invasion, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis died, and not about the enhanced interrogation of individuals apprehended after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was predicated on misleading intelligence circulated by Cheney, was the proper path to take. "It represented the correct action to do back then. I was convinced then and I hold that view today."
However even then, there were dissenting voices at a top tier about the botched execution of Iraq. One of the administration's own special envoys to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the post. "I observed, at the very least," he subsequently stated "obvious failure, carelessness, and recklessness: in the worst case, deception, ineptitude, and dishonesty."
Additional Factors
Cheney was not solely responsible for the Iraq campaign. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for such action. He had written a memorandum detailing scenarios in which American interests might be threatened (encompassing "access to crucial commodities, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "the US should be postured to take unilateral action when joint efforts cannot be orchestrated," particularly mentioning military moves against Iraq.
Bush too had entered the Oval Office vaguely intent on implementing what his predecessor had specifically avoided to do in 1991; remove Saddam. Following he had been sacked by the administration, the finance chief Paul O'Neill disclosed how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had announced his intention of diminishing America's engagement in the regional tensions and proposed military action against Iraq.
Bush bore a personal grudge against Saddam, believing he had been behind a conspiracy to assassinate his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally disliked that one of the largest establishments in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a image of his father's countenance that all visitors had to walk over.
Investigation Approaches
However it was Cheney who was one of the most outspoken supporting attacking Iraq, consistently citing information documents that were whether weak or totally misleading. He backed what the Bush administration politely called as "intensive questioning", the use of interrogation method and torture.
Responding to a Senate document in 2014 that concluded that no valuable data had come from the interrogation methods, Cheney disregarded the findings as "riddled with crap". He informed Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to implement measures and put in place procedures to capture the bastards who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it would not recur. That's exactly what they did and they earn a lot of praise."
External Perception
Cheney reveled in labels imposed on him by critics such as the dark character and the dark figure, and by the concept that he was a dark force manipulating Bush. In the journalist's 2013 volume about the pair, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is reported as stating: "Am I the sinister strategist in the background that nobody ever sees emerge from his domain? This represents a nice way to operate, truthfully."
Business Interests
Debate over his business interests followed him through his period as VP. Even though he had limited background 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 oil and gas corporations, in 1995 as chair and CEO.
In 2000 he was selected as Bush's running mate for the executive branch. Contentiously, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was awarded US agreements worth substantial sums.
It made him rich. His yearly earnings during his period at the firm increased from his quarter-million dollars while military head to over four million. When he departed in 2000 he had a package worth in excess of $20m|twenty
