The deceased US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who passed away at age 84, was regarded as arguably the most powerful occupants of that office in American history. While numerous vice-presidents were confined to peripheral or ceremonial positions, Cheney wielded enormous influence during the presidency of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was commonly referred to as the "true president".
Bush objected to this portrayal and said the dynamic was more complex. He noted that Cheney was deferential, invariably referring to him in official appearances as the President, while he called him as Dick. Bush challenged even portrayals of their relationship as a team because it implied that they were equals. Regardless of these objections, Cheney viewed the relaxed president pliable on a wide array of policy decisions.
A Period Following the Attacks
At the head of a faction of neo-cons that included military head Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in response to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. During of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been taking part in a gathering at a educational institution in Florida. Whereas Bush headed for a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, directing the downing of any non-communicating aircraft heading toward the government building.
Cheney said the assaults transformed him, causing him to be intent on retaliation. In conjunction with other conservative figures, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a occupation of Afghanistan in an attempt to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the invasion of Iraq, although there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein having involvement.
Controversial Policies
He voiced no apologies about the military campaign, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, or about the waterboarding of suspects rounded up after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was based on inaccurate information repeated by Cheney, was the right path to take. "It was the proper decision to do at that time. I was convinced at the time and I hold that view now."
Yet even at the time, there were dissenting voices at a top tier about the botched execution of Iraq. One of the White House's own representatives to the Middle East, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the position. "I witnessed, as a baseline," he wrote later "clear negligence, inaction, and recklessness: at worst, deception, unfitness, and corruption."
Broader Context
Cheney was not entirely to blame for the Iraq invasion. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for such action. He had written a document outlining scenarios in which national priorities might be compromised (featuring "availability of crucial commodities, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "the US should be postured to operate alone when joint efforts cannot be orchestrated," explicitly referencing armed actions against Iraq.
Bush also had arrived in the presidency generally inclined on carrying out what his predecessor had famously refused to do in 1991; remove Saddam. Subsequent to he had been sacked by the president, the finance chief Paul O'Neill disclosed how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had announced his intention of lowering America's involvement in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and proposed military action against Iraq.
Bush held a individual resentment against Saddam, believing he had been responsible for a scheme to kill his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore resented that one of the largest hotels in Baghdad had a ground design with a likeness of his predecessor's countenance that each person had to walk over.
Interrogation Methods
However it was Cheney who was one of the most outspoken behind invading Iraq, frequently citing intelligence reports that were either thin or completely misleading. He endorsed what the Bush administration indirectly described as "advanced techniques", the use of simulated drowning and torture.
Addressing a Senate report in 2014 that determined that no valuable data had resulted from the torture, Cheney dismissed the findings as "full of crap". He stated to Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to take steps and create procedures to catch the bastards who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it never happened again. That is precisely what they did and they merit a lot of praise."
Public Image
Cheney reveled in nicknames assigned to him by detractors such as the dark character and the dark figure, and by the idea that he was a sinister influence directing 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: "Am I the malevolent mastermind in the shadows that operates invisibly emerge from his lair? This represents a nice way to function, actually."
Business Interests
Controversy over his business interests pursued him through his period as vice-president. While he had limited background in business but good contacts in security, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's largest petroleum corporations, in 1995 as chair and chief executive.
In 2000 he became Bush's VP candidate for the White House. Debatably, during the military campaign, Halliburton was awarded US agreements worth substantial sums.
It significantly boosted his finances. His yearly earnings during his tenure at the company grew from his $258,394 when he was defence secretary to $4.4m. When he departed in 2000 he had a package worth more than $20m|twenty
