The former US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who died at the age of 84, was seen as arguably the most influential incumbents of the vice-presidency in US history. Although many VPs were confined to marginal or symbolic functions, Cheney wielded substantial sway during the presidency of George W Bush, so much so that he was often described as the "actual president".
Bush resented that description and claimed the relationship was more nuanced. He observed that Cheney was deferential, always addressing him in official appearances as the President, while he called him as Dick. Bush challenged even descriptions of their relationship as a team because it suggested that they were on equal footing. Despite such protestations, Cheney found the laidback president accommodating on a wide array of governmental choices.
A Aftermath of 9/11
Leading of a contingent of neo-conservatives that included military head Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the military intervention of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the September 11th attacks on New York and Washington. At the time of the 9/11 assault, Bush had been taking part in a session at a elementary school in Florida. As Bush made his way to a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney took command, ordering the downing of any unresponsive planes nearing the US Capitol.
Cheney stated the attacks transformed him, making him become intent on revenge. Along with other conservative figures, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a occupation of Afghanistan in an endeavor to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then pressed fiercely for the armed intervention of Iraq, though there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Disputed Decisions
He showed no remorse about the invasion, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, or about the waterboarding of individuals rounded up after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was founded on misleading reports echoed by Cheney, was the right course of action. "It represented the right thing to do then. I was convinced then and I believe it today."
However even then, there were contrary opinions at a high level about the poor management of Iraq. One of the government's own delegates to the Middle East, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the role. "I witnessed, as a baseline," he subsequently stated "clear negligence, negligence, and irresponsibility: potentially, lying, unfitness, and graft."
Additional Factors
Cheney was not solely to blame for the Iraq invasion. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for such action. He had composed a memo outlining scenarios in which national priorities might be compromised (featuring "obtaining vital raw materials, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "the US should be postured to act independently when collective action cannot be arranged," specifically citing defense operations against Iraq.
Bush additionally had entered the White House generally inclined on carrying out what his father had specifically avoided to do in 1991; remove Saddam. Following he had been fired by the administration, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had announced his objective of diminishing America's participation in the regional tensions and suggested military action against Iraq.
Bush carried a individual resentment against Saddam, thinking he had been responsible for a conspiracy to murder his father, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally objected to that one of the most prominent accommodations in Baghdad had a ground design with a likeness of his parent's visage that all visitors had to tread upon.
Interrogation Methods
But it was Cheney who was one of the most outspoken behind striking Iraq, repeatedly citing agency briefings that were either weak or totally misleading. He supported what the Bush government indirectly described as "intensive questioning", the use of waterboarding and harsh treatment.
Addressing a Senate report in 2014 that found that no useful information had come from the interrogation methods, Cheney rejected the report as "loaded with crap". He stated to Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to take steps and create procedures to apprehend the bastards who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it was not repeated. That is precisely what they did and they deserve a lot of credit."
External Perception
Cheney reveled in nicknames given to him by detractors such as the Star Wars villain and the dark figure, and by the notion that he was a shadow power directing Bush. In the author's 2013 publication about the two, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is quoted as saying: "Do I represent the malevolent mastermind in the shadows that operates invisibly leave his domain? It's a effective way to work, in fact."
Business Interests
Debate over his business interests followed him throughout his time as VP. While he had little experience in business but strong connections in defence, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial petroleum conglomerates, in 1995 as chairman and top executive.
In 2000 he became Bush's running mate for the executive branch. Debatably, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was granted US deals valued at substantial sums.
It made him rich. His annual income during his tenure at the firm increased from his $258,394 when he was defence secretary to millions. When he departed in 2000 he had a package valued at over $20m|twenty
