The deceased US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who died at the age of 84, was seen as among the most significant incumbents of that position in American history. While numerous VPs were limited to minor or figurehead roles, Cheney held enormous sway during the administration of George W Bush, so much so that he was often referred to as the "actual president".
Bush resented that description and claimed the relationship was more nuanced. He noted that Cheney was respectful, always calling him in public as Mr President, while he called him as Dick. Bush questioned even descriptions of their association as a team because it indicated that they were equals. In spite of these objections, Cheney viewed the easygoing president malleable on a wide array of administrative determinations.
A Period Following the Attacks
In charge of a faction of neo-cons that featured military head Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the military intervention of Iraq in 2003 in response 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 meeting at a educational institution in Florida. As Bush traveled to a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, ordering the shooting down of any non-communicating airplanes approaching the US Capitol.
Cheney stated the strikes transformed him, making him become determined on revenge. Along with other conservative figures, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a takeover of Afghanistan in an attempt to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then pressed fiercely for the military action of Iraq, although there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein playing a role.
Controversial Actions
He showed no remorse about the armed intervention, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis perished, nor about the waterboarding of individuals apprehended after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was based on inaccurate information circulated by Cheney, was the correct path to take. "It represented the right thing to do at that time. I had faith at the time and I believe it today."
But during that period, there were opposing views at a high level about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the administration's own special envoys to the Middle East, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the position. "I witnessed, at a minimum," he later wrote "true dereliction, negligence, and unaccountability: in the worst case, falsehoods, unfitness, and graft."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not solely to blame for the Iraq military action. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for similar measures. He had composed a document outlining scenarios in which US concerns might be compromised (including "access to vital raw materials, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "America should be postured to take unilateral action when collective action cannot be orchestrated," particularly mentioning armed actions against Iraq.
Bush additionally had entered the Oval Office generally inclined on carrying out what his predecessor had specifically avoided to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. Subsequent to he had been sacked by the White House, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the first meeting of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his plan of reducing America's participation in the Middle East dispute and suggested armed intervention against Iraq.
Bush held a personal grudge against Saddam, thinking he had been responsible for a scheme to murder his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore resented that one of the most prominent hotels in Baghdad had a ground design with a likeness of his parent's visage that each person had to tread upon.
Questioning Techniques
Yet it was Cheney who was one of the most outspoken behind attacking Iraq, repeatedly quoting information documents that were whether weak or totally inaccurate. He supported what the Bush administration euphemistically referred to as "intensive questioning", the application of simulated drowning and harsh treatment.
Responding to a Senate analysis in 2014 that determined that no valuable data had resulted from the harsh techniques, Cheney disregarded the findings as "riddled with crap". He told Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to implement measures and create procedures to apprehend the bastards who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it never happened again. That's exactly what they did and they merit a lot of credit."
Public Persona
Cheney reveled in labels given to him by detractors such as the Star Wars villain and The Prince of Darkness, and by the concept that he was a sinister influence directing Bush. In the author's 2013 volume about the pair, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is quoted as saying: "Is it me who is the malevolent mastermind in the shadows that nobody ever sees emerge from his domain? That is a nice way to operate, truthfully."
Commercial Ties
Debate over his commercial relationships accompanied him through his period as VP. Even though he had little experience in commerce but strong connections in military, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial oil and gas conglomerates, in 1995 as chairman and chief executive.
In 2000 he became Bush's election partner for the White House. Contentiously, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was given US agreements worth multiple billions.
It greatly increased his wealth. His yearly compensation during his period at the firm rose from his $258,394 when he was military head to millions. When he departed in 2000 he had a compensation package valued at over $20m|twenty
