The late US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who passed away at age 84, was considered among the most significant occupants of that position in US history. Whereas many vice-presidents were limited to marginal or ceremonial roles, Cheney held huge influence during the term of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was commonly described as the "real president".
Bush resented that description and stated the connection was more nuanced. He pointed out that Cheney was deferential, invariably calling him in public as the President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush questioned even descriptions of their partnership as a partnership because it implied that they were peers. Regardless of these denials, Cheney considered the laidback president pliable on a wide array of policy decisions.
The Post-9/11 Era
At the head of a faction of conservative hawks that encompassed Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the military intervention of Iraq in 2003 in reaction to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. At the time of the 9/11 strike, Bush had been taking part in a session at a school in Florida. Whereas Bush made his way to a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, directing the shooting down of any unidentified airplanes heading toward the Capitol building.
Cheney said the assaults altered his perspective, causing him to be intent on retaliation. Together with other conservative figures, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a takeover of Afghanistan in an attempt to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then pressed fiercely for the invasion of Iraq, even though there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein playing a role.
Debated Decisions
He voiced no apologies about the military campaign, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis died, nor about the harsh treatment of suspects rounded up after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was founded on inaccurate reports echoed by Cheney, was the correct course of action. "It proved to be the proper decision to do back then. I was convinced at the time and I hold that view presently."
But during that period, there were opposing views at a top tier about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the administration's own representatives to the Middle East, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the role. "I observed, at a minimum," he wrote later "obvious failure, inaction, and unaccountability: in the worst case, lying, ineptitude, and graft."
Additional Factors
Cheney was not completely to blame for the Iraq invasion. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for similar measures. He had composed a memorandum setting out circumstances in which US concerns might be compromised (featuring "availability of essential resources, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "the US should be prepared to operate alone when cooperative measures cannot be arranged," particularly mentioning defense operations against Iraq.
Bush additionally had arrived in the Oval Office generally inclined on carrying out what his parent had notably declined to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. Following he had been dismissed by the administration, the finance chief Paul O'Neill disclosed how, at the first meeting of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his objective of lowering America's involvement in the regional tensions and suggested defense operations against Iraq.
Bush bore a personal grudge against Saddam, thinking he had been responsible for a conspiracy to murder his father, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He also resented that one of the largest hotels in Baghdad had a ground design with a portrait of his father's visage that each person had to walk over.
Questioning Techniques
But it was Cheney who was part of the most vociferous behind invading Iraq, frequently referencing agency briefings that were both insubstantial or totally inaccurate. He backed what the Bush government politely called as "enhanced interrogation", the employment of waterboarding and torture.
Responding to a Senate analysis in 2014 that concluded that no useful information had come from the torture, Cheney disregarded the conclusions as "full of crap". He informed Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to take steps and create initiatives to capture the bastards who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it was not repeated. That's exactly what they did and they deserve a lot of credit."
External Perception
Cheney reveled in nicknames assigned to him by detractors such as the Star Wars villain and the dark figure, and by the concept that he was a dark force directing Bush. In the author's 2013 book about the two, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is cited as commenting: "Do I represent the sinister strategist in the background that remains unseen emerge from his lair? It's a nice way to operate, truthfully."
Commercial Ties
Controversy over his corporate affiliations pursued him throughout his time as second-in-command. Even though he had limited background in corporate affairs but established relationships in security, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's largest oil and gas companies, in 1995 as chairman and top executive.
In 2000 he became Bush's running mate for the executive branch. Contentiously, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was granted US contracts totaling multiple billions.
It significantly boosted his finances. His yearly compensation during his tenure at the company rose from his $258,394 when he was defence secretary to over four million. When he left in 2000 he had a compensation package worth over $20m|twenty
