The deceased US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who died at age 84, was seen as one of the most influential incumbents of that position in US history. Although countless vice-presidents had to settle for minor or ceremonial functions, Cheney exercised substantial power during the presidency of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was frequently referred to as the "real president".
Bush objected to that description and said the connection was more complex. He noted that Cheney was respectful, consistently calling him in official appearances as the President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush questioned even portrayals of their relationship as a team because it implied that they were peers. In spite of these denials, Cheney found the easygoing president malleable on a whole raft of governmental choices.
A Post-9/11 Era
In charge of a contingent of neo-conservatives that encompassed Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the invasion of Iraq in 2003 in reaction to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. During of the 9/11 strike, Bush had been taking part in a gathering at a educational institution in Florida. While Bush made his way to a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney took command, commanding the destruction of any unresponsive aircraft heading toward the government building.
Cheney claimed the strikes changed him, leading him to become intent on revenge. Together with other neo-cons, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a occupation of Afghanistan in an effort to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the invasion of Iraq, even though there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein playing a role.
Controversial Decisions
He voiced no apologies about the invasion, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis died, and not about the harsh treatment of individuals apprehended after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was based on faulty information echoed by Cheney, was the right path to take. "It was the proper decision to do then. I had faith then and I believe it today."
Yet during that period, there were contrary opinions at a top tier about the poor management of Iraq. One of the administration's own delegates to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the position. "I observed, as a baseline," he wrote later "obvious failure, inaction, and unaccountability: in the worst case, deception, ineptitude, and dishonesty."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not solely responsible for the Iraq invasion. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for such action. He had written a memorandum outlining situations in which American interests might be endangered (including "access to crucial commodities, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "the United States should be prepared to act independently when cooperative measures cannot be arranged," specifically citing armed actions against Iraq.
Bush too had arrived in the Oval Office generally inclined on carrying out what his parent had famously refused to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. After he had been dismissed by the president, the finance chief Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the first meeting of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his plan of diminishing America's engagement in the regional tensions and proposed military action against Iraq.
Bush held a individual resentment against Saddam, believing he had been behind a plot to murder his father, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He also disliked that one of the biggest accommodations in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a likeness of his parent's visage that each person had to step on.
Questioning Techniques
But it was Cheney who was among the most outspoken behind striking Iraq, consistently quoting intelligence reports that were whether weak or totally misleading. He backed what the Bush administration politely called as "intensive questioning", the employment of simulated drowning and torture.
Responding to a Senate document in 2014 that concluded that no valuable data had resulted from the torture, Cheney disregarded the findings as "riddled with crap". He stated to Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to take steps and create programmes to catch the bastards who murdered 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 credit."
Public Image
Cheney took pleasure in labels assigned to him by opponents such as the Star Wars villain and The Prince of Darkness, and by the idea that he was a dark force controlling 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 sinister strategist in the shadows that operates invisibly leave his domain? That is a effective way to work, actually."
Commercial Ties
Controversy over his corporate affiliations accompanied him throughout his time as VP. Even though he had little experience in corporate affairs but strong connections in defence, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's largest energy corporations, in 1995 as leader and top executive.
In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's running mate for the executive branch. Contentiously, during the military campaign, Halliburton was awarded US deals worth multiple billions.
It greatly increased his wealth. His yearly compensation during his time at the company rose from his quarter-million dollars when he was Pentagon chief to $4.4m. When he left in 2000 he had a severance arrangement worth more than $20m|twenty
