The late US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who died at age 84, was considered among the most influential occupants of the vice-presidency in the nation's history. Whereas numerous vice-presidents had to settle for minor or symbolic roles, Cheney held huge influence during the term of George W Bush, so much so that he was frequently described as the "actual president".
Bush disliked that description and stated the connection was more complicated. He pointed out that Cheney was courteous, always calling him in public settings as the President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush questioned even portrayals of their relationship as a partnership because it implied that they were equals. Regardless of these objections, Cheney viewed the relaxed president accommodating on a whole raft of governmental choices.
A Aftermath of 9/11
At the head of a group of conservative hawks that encompassed Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the armed incursion 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 attending a meeting at a school in Florida. As Bush made his way to a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, ordering the destruction of any non-communicating planes heading toward the Capitol building.
Cheney said the assaults changed him, making him become focused on retaliation. In conjunction with other neo-cons, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a takeover of Afghanistan in an attempt to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the invasion of Iraq, even though there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Disputed Policies
He voiced no apologies about the military campaign, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, or about the waterboarding of suspects apprehended after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was predicated on faulty intelligence echoed by Cheney, was the proper decision. "It proved to be the correct action to do at that time. I had faith back then and I believe it presently."
But during that period, there were contrary opinions at a high level about the botched execution of Iraq. One of the government's own special envoys to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the role. "I saw, at a minimum," he subsequently stated "obvious failure, negligence, and irresponsibility: at worst, lying, unfitness, and corruption."
Broader Context
Cheney was not completely accountable for the Iraq campaign. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for comparable steps. He had drafted a memorandum outlining scenarios in which US concerns might be compromised (featuring "access to vital raw materials, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "America should be postured to operate alone when collective action cannot be orchestrated," explicitly citing armed actions against Iraq.
Bush additionally had assumed the Oval Office generally inclined on executing what his predecessor had famously refused to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. Subsequent to he had been dismissed 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 intention of reducing America's participation in the Middle East dispute and proposed military action against Iraq.
Bush bore a personal grudge against Saddam, thinking he had been involved in a plot to kill his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally disliked that one of the most prominent hotels in Baghdad had a ground design with a portrait of his predecessor's visage that everyone had to tread upon.
Interrogation Methods
Yet it was Cheney who was one of the most vociferous supporting attacking Iraq, frequently citing intelligence reports that were whether thin or entirely inaccurate. He backed what the Bush administration euphemistically referred to as "enhanced interrogation", the employment of interrogation method and physical pressure.
Answering a Senate document in 2014 that determined that no actionable intelligence had resulted from the harsh techniques, Cheney dismissed the findings as "loaded with crap". He stated to Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to take steps and create programmes to capture the individuals who took the lives of 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it was not repeated. That was specifically what they did and they merit a lot of praise."
External Perception
Cheney enjoyed labels assigned to him by opponents such as the Star Wars villain and the dark figure, and by the notion that he was a dark force controlling Bush. In Peter Baker's 2013 book about the duo, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is quoted as saying: "Is it me who is the evil genius in the corner that nobody ever sees emerge from his hole? It's a effective way to operate, in fact."
Corporate Connections
Debate over his business interests pursued him during his tenure as vice-president. Even though he had limited background in business but good contacts in military, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial petroleum companies, in 1995 as chairman and top executive.
In 2000 he was selected as Bush's election partner for the White House. Controversially, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was granted US deals totaling multiple billions.
It made him rich. His annual income during his period at the firm increased from his $258,394 when he was defence secretary to over four million. When he resigned in 2000 he had a severance arrangement totaling more than $20m|twenty
