The deceased US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who died at age 84, was regarded as among the most influential incumbents of that office in the nation's history. While countless vice-presidents were limited to peripheral or ceremonial functions, Cheney wielded huge power during the administration of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was often described as the "actual president".
Bush objected to that description and claimed the relationship was more complicated. He pointed out that Cheney was courteous, always referring to him in public as Mr President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush questioned even descriptions of their partnership as a team because it implied that they were equals. In spite of these objections, Cheney found the laidback president malleable on a broad range of governmental choices.
The Period Following the Attacks
In charge of a group of neo-cons that included defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary 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. When of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been participating in a session at a elementary school in Florida. Whereas Bush headed for a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, commanding the downing of any unresponsive planes nearing the government building.
Cheney claimed the attacks transformed him, causing him to be intent on retaliation. Together with other conservative figures, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a invasion of Afghanistan in an effort to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then pressed fiercely for the invasion of Iraq, although there was little proof of Saddam Hussein having involvement.
Disputed Policies
He voiced no apologies about the invasion, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, or about the enhanced interrogation of suspects rounded up after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was predicated on misleading information repeated by Cheney, was the proper decision. "It proved to be the right thing to do back then. I had faith then and I maintain that stance today."
However during that period, there were dissenting voices at a senior level about the botched execution of Iraq. One of the administration's own special envoys to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the role. "I observed, at a minimum," he subsequently stated "clear negligence, inaction, and unaccountability: potentially, lying, unfitness, and dishonesty."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not completely accountable for the Iraq military action. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for similar measures. He had written a memorandum detailing situations in which US concerns might be threatened (including "obtaining crucial commodities, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "America should be positioned to act independently when cooperative measures cannot be orchestrated," explicitly referencing military moves against Iraq.
Bush too had assumed the presidency vaguely intent on executing what his predecessor had specifically avoided to do in 1991; remove Saddam. Subsequent to he had been fired by the administration, the finance chief Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the first meeting of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had announced his plan of lowering America's participation in the Middle East dispute and mooted military action against Iraq.
Bush bore a personal grudge against Saddam, convinced he had been involved in a conspiracy to assassinate his father, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally resented that one of the most prominent hotels in Baghdad had a ground design with a image of his predecessor's visage that everyone had to walk over.
Investigation Approaches
Yet it was Cheney who was among the most vehement advocating striking Iraq, repeatedly quoting information documents that were either thin or completely inaccurate. He supported what the Bush White House politely called as "advanced techniques", the employment of interrogation method and harsh treatment.
Responding to a Senate document in 2014 that concluded that no actionable intelligence had come from the harsh techniques, Cheney rejected the findings as "loaded with crap". He stated to Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to establish protocols and establish procedures to apprehend the bastards who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it never happened again. That's exactly what they did and they earn a lot of praise."
Public Image
Cheney enjoyed nicknames given to him by critics such as Darth Vader and the dark figure, and by the notion that he was a dark force controlling Bush. In the journalist's 2013 publication about the two, 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 background that nobody ever sees emerge from his lair? That is a nice way to function, actually."
Commercial Ties
Debate over his business interests pursued him during his tenure as second-in-command. Although he had minimal expertise in business but good contacts in military, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial energy conglomerates, in 1995 as chair and top executive.
In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's election partner for the presidency. Contentiously, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was awarded US contracts worth multiple billions.
It greatly increased his wealth. His annual income during his tenure at the firm grew from his previous salary when he was defence secretary to millions. When he resigned in 2000 he had a severance arrangement totaling more than $20m|twenty
