The late US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who died at the age of 84, was considered arguably the most significant incumbents of the vice-presidency in American history. While countless VPs were limited to minor or ceremonial functions, Cheney held enormous influence during the administration of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was commonly described as the "actual president".
Bush objected to this portrayal and said the connection was more complicated. He observed that Cheney was courteous, invariably referring to him in public settings as President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush disputed even characterisations of their relationship as a collaboration because it indicated that they were equals. Regardless of these denials, Cheney considered the laidback president malleable on a whole raft of governmental choices.
The Period Following the Attacks
In charge of a contingent of neo-cons that included Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the invasion of Iraq in 2003 in response to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. During of the 9/11 strike, Bush had been participating in a session at a elementary school in Florida. As Bush headed for a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, directing the shooting down of any unidentified planes nearing the Capitol building.
Cheney claimed the assaults transformed him, leading him to become focused on retribution. Together with other neo-conservatives, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a invasion of Afghanistan in an effort to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the military action of Iraq, although there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein playing a role.
Controversial Decisions
He showed no remorse about the military campaign, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis died, and not about the enhanced interrogation of detainees apprehended after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was predicated on inaccurate information echoed by Cheney, was the correct path to take. "It proved to be the correct action to do back then. I had faith at the time and I hold that view today."
But even at the time, there were opposing views at a top tier about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the administration's own delegates to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the post. "I observed, at a minimum," he wrote later "obvious failure, negligence, and recklessness: in the worst case, falsehoods, ineptitude, and corruption."
Additional Factors
Cheney was not solely responsible for the Iraq invasion. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for such action. He had written a memo detailing circumstances in which US concerns might be compromised (featuring "access to vital raw materials, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "the US should be postured to act independently when joint efforts prove impossible," particularly citing military moves against Iraq.
Bush additionally had arrived in the White House generally inclined on implementing what his predecessor had specifically avoided to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. Following he had been sacked by the president, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his intention of lowering America's participation in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and proposed armed intervention against Iraq.
Bush bore a personal grudge against Saddam, believing he had been behind a conspiracy to kill his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally resented that one of the most prominent establishments in Baghdad had a floor mural with a portrait of his father's face that all visitors had to tread upon.
Interrogation Methods
Yet it was Cheney who was part of the most vociferous advocating striking Iraq, repeatedly quoting intelligence reports that were either weak or completely misleading. He supported what the Bush administration politely called as "advanced techniques", the application of interrogation method and torture.
Answering a Senate document in 2014 that concluded that no useful information had come from the harsh techniques, Cheney dismissed the findings as "riddled with crap". He informed Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to take steps and establish initiatives to catch the perpetrators who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it was not repeated. That is precisely what they did and they earn a lot of praise."
External Perception
Cheney reveled in labels assigned to him by detractors such as Darth Vader and the sinister presence, and by the idea that he was a shadow power directing Bush. In Peter Baker's 2013 book about the two, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is reported as stating: "Am I the malevolent mastermind in the background that nobody ever sees emerge from his domain? It's a advantageous way to work, in fact."
Corporate Connections
Controversy over his business interests pursued him through his period as VP. While he had minimal expertise in commerce but strong connections in security, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's biggest energy companies, in 1995 as chair and CEO.
In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's running mate for the White House. Contentiously, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was granted US deals totaling substantial sums.
It made him rich. His yearly compensation during his tenure at the corporation increased from his quarter-million dollars while Pentagon chief to over four million. When he departed in 2000 he had a package totaling in excess of $20m|twenty
