The deceased US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who died at age 84, was seen as among the most powerful occupants of that office in the nation's history. While numerous VPs were confined to minor or figurehead functions, Cheney held huge influence during the term of George W Bush, so much so that he was commonly referred to as the "true president".
Bush objected to such a characterisation and claimed the connection was more complex. He noted that Cheney was deferential, consistently calling him in official appearances as President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush questioned even portrayals of their association as a collaboration because it suggested that they were on equal footing. In spite of these objections, Cheney found the relaxed president accommodating on a wide array of administrative determinations.
A Post-9/11 Era
In charge of a group of conservative hawks that included military head 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 assault, Bush had been participating in a gathering at a elementary school in Florida. As Bush traveled to a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, directing the shooting down of any unidentified aircraft heading toward the US Capitol.
Cheney stated the strikes changed him, leading him to become focused on revenge. Along with other neo-cons, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a occupation of Afghanistan in an effort to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then pressed fiercely for the armed intervention of Iraq, although there was little proof of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Controversial Policies
He voiced no apologies about the military campaign, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis died, nor about the harsh treatment of individuals apprehended after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was based on misleading intelligence echoed by Cheney, was the right decision. "It represented the right thing to do back then. I had faith back then and I maintain that stance now."
Yet even then, there were contrary opinions at a senior level about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the administration's own delegates to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the role. "I observed, at the very least," he later wrote "obvious failure, inaction, and irresponsibility: potentially, deception, incompetence, and corruption."
Additional Factors
Cheney was not entirely responsible for the Iraq invasion. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for similar measures. He had written a memo detailing circumstances in which American interests might be endangered (encompassing "obtaining vital raw materials, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "America should be prepared to operate alone when collective action prove impossible," explicitly mentioning military moves against Iraq.
Bush too had entered the presidency somewhat determined on implementing what his father had specifically avoided to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. After 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 intention of lowering America's involvement in the Middle East dispute and mooted armed intervention against Iraq.
Bush carried a individual resentment against Saddam, believing he had been involved in a scheme to kill his parent, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally resented that one of the largest hotels in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a image of his father's visage that everyone had to step on.
Investigation Approaches
But it was Cheney who was part of the most outspoken behind invading Iraq, frequently referencing information documents that were both thin or entirely inaccurate. He endorsed what the Bush administration politely called as "intensive questioning", the employment of interrogation method and harsh treatment.
Answering a Senate document in 2014 that determined that no actionable intelligence had come from the interrogation methods, Cheney rejected the report as "full of crap". He informed Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to take steps and create initiatives to capture the individuals who took the lives of 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it was not repeated. That is precisely what they did and they merit a lot of credit."
Public Image
Cheney reveled in monikers assigned to him by detractors such as Darth Vader and The Prince of Darkness, and by the concept that he was a sinister influence directing Bush. In Peter Baker's 2013 volume about the pair, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is reported as stating: "Am I the sinister strategist in the background that nobody ever sees emerge from his domain? This represents a nice way to function, truthfully."
Commercial Ties
Debate over his business interests pursued him through his period as VP. While he had little experience in corporate affairs but strong connections in military, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's biggest oil and gas conglomerates, in 1995 as leader and CEO.
In 2000 he became Bush's election partner for the executive branch. Debatably, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was awarded US deals worth substantial sums.
It made him rich. His annual income during his time at the company increased from his quarter-million dollars while defence secretary to over four million. When he departed in 2000 he had a severance arrangement valued at more than $20m|twenty
