The former US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who died at age 84, was seen as arguably the most significant incumbents of the vice-presidency in US history. While countless vice-presidents were confined to peripheral or ceremonial functions, Cheney wielded substantial influence during the term of George W Bush, so much so that he was frequently called as the "actual president".
Bush objected to this portrayal and stated the connection was more complex. He pointed out that Cheney was respectful, invariably addressing him in public as the President, while he called him as Dick. Bush questioned even characterisations of their association as a team because it suggested that they were on equal footing. Regardless of these denials, Cheney found the laidback president malleable on a wide array of policy decisions.
A Period Following the Attacks
At the head of a faction of neo-conservatives that included Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the invasion of Iraq in 2003 in response to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. During of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been taking part in a session at a educational institution in Florida. While Bush headed for a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, commanding the destruction of any unresponsive airplanes nearing the US Capitol.
Cheney said the attacks changed him, making him become focused on retaliation. Together with other neo-cons, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a occupation of Afghanistan in an effort to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the military action of Iraq, although there was little proof of Saddam Hussein playing a role.
Controversial Policies
He showed no remorse about the military campaign, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis perished, or about the harsh treatment of suspects rounded up after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was based on inaccurate information repeated by Cheney, was the right course of action. "It was the correct action to do at that time. I was convinced back then and I believe it now."
Yet even at the time, there were opposing views at a top tier about the poor management of Iraq. One of the government's own delegates to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the position. "I observed, as a baseline," he subsequently stated "true dereliction, negligence, and irresponsibility: at worst, lying, ineptitude, and graft."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not solely responsible for the Iraq campaign. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for comparable steps. He had written a memorandum setting out scenarios in which national priorities might be compromised (including "availability of essential resources, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "America should be prepared to act independently when cooperative measures prove impossible," explicitly referencing defense operations against Iraq.
Bush also had entered the Oval Office generally inclined on carrying out what his parent had specifically avoided to do in 1991; remove Saddam. After he had been fired by the administration, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had announced his objective of lowering America's engagement in the Middle East dispute and mooted defense operations against Iraq.
Bush carried a individual resentment against Saddam, believing he had been involved in a conspiracy to assassinate his parent, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally disliked that one of the biggest accommodations in Baghdad had a floor mural with a image of his father's countenance that everyone had to walk over.
Investigation Approaches
Yet it was Cheney who was among the most vociferous behind invading Iraq, repeatedly quoting intelligence reports that were whether insubstantial or totally deceptive. He backed what the Bush White House politely called as "enhanced interrogation", the application of waterboarding and torture.
Addressing a Senate analysis in 2014 that found that no valuable data had been obtained through the torture, Cheney rejected the conclusions as "full of crap". He informed Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to implement measures and establish initiatives to apprehend the individuals who took the lives of 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it was not repeated. That is precisely what they did and they deserve a lot of recognition."
External Perception
Cheney enjoyed labels assigned to him by critics such as the Star Wars villain and the dark figure, and by the concept that he was a dark force directing Bush. In the journalist's 2013 volume about the pair, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is cited as commenting: "Is it me who is the malevolent mastermind in the background that remains unseen leave his lair? This represents a effective way to work, actually."
Business Interests
Debate over his business interests pursued him during his tenure as VP. Even though he had little experience in business but established relationships in security, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's largest petroleum companies, in 1995 as chair and chief executive.
In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's VP candidate for the presidency. Debatably, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was given US contracts totaling billions.
It made him rich. His annual income during his tenure at the firm increased from his quarter-million dollars when he was military head to over four million. When he departed in 2000 he had a compensation package worth over $20m|twenty
