The deceased US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who died at the age of 84, was considered among the most significant holders of that position in US history. Although countless VPs were limited to minor or figurehead positions, Cheney exercised substantial power during the term of George W Bush, so much so that he was commonly described as the "actual president".
Bush resented that description and stated the connection was more complicated. He noted that Cheney was respectful, invariably calling him in official appearances as Mr President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush disputed even portrayals of their relationship as a partnership because it suggested that they were on equal footing. Despite these objections, Cheney considered the laidback president pliable on a wide array of governmental choices.
A Post-9/11 Era
In charge of a group of conservative hawks that encompassed Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the military intervention of Iraq in 2003 in response to the September 11th attacks on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 strike, Bush had been taking part in a meeting at a educational institution in Florida. While Bush traveled to a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, ordering the downing of any unidentified airplanes approaching the government building.
Cheney claimed the attacks changed him, leading him to become intent on revenge. Together with other conservative figures, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a invasion of Afghanistan in an endeavor to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the armed intervention of Iraq, even though there was little proof of Saddam Hussein playing a role.
Controversial Actions
He voiced no apologies about the armed intervention, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis perished, or about the enhanced interrogation of suspects rounded up after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was founded on faulty intelligence circulated by Cheney, was the right decision. "It was the right thing to do at that time. I believed it at the time and I hold that view today."
However during that period, there were opposing views at a top tier about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the White House's own special envoys to the Middle East, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the role. "I saw, at the very least," he wrote later "obvious failure, carelessness, and irresponsibility: at worst, falsehoods, ineptitude, and corruption."
Additional Factors
Cheney was not entirely responsible for the Iraq invasion. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for comparable steps. He had written a memo detailing situations in which American interests might be compromised (including "obtaining vital raw materials, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "the US should be positioned to act independently when cooperative measures cannot be orchestrated," specifically referencing military moves against Iraq.
Bush too had arrived in the White House vaguely intent on carrying out what his predecessor had specifically avoided to do in 1991; remove Saddam. Following he had been fired by the White House, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his objective of reducing America's involvement in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and suggested defense operations against Iraq.
Bush carried a individual resentment against Saddam, believing he had been responsible for a plot to murder his parent, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally disliked that one of the most prominent establishments in Baghdad had a floor mural with a likeness of his father's visage that each person had to step on.
Interrogation Methods
Yet it was Cheney who was among the most vehement supporting invading Iraq, frequently citing agency briefings that were whether weak or entirely deceptive. He endorsed what the Bush administration euphemistically referred to as "advanced techniques", the employment of interrogation method and physical pressure.
Addressing a Senate report in 2014 that found that no valuable data had resulted from the harsh techniques, Cheney rejected the conclusions as "riddled with crap". He told Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to establish protocols and establish initiatives to apprehend the individuals who took the lives of 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it would not recur. That is precisely what they did and they deserve a lot of praise."
Public Persona
Cheney reveled in nicknames given to him by opponents such as Darth Vader and the dark figure, and by the idea that he was a dark force controlling Bush. In the journalist's 2013 publication about the pair, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is reported as stating: "Do I represent the sinister strategist in the corner that nobody ever sees emerge from his lair? This represents a effective way to function, in fact."
Commercial Ties
Debate over his commercial relationships pursued him during his tenure as VP. Although he had little experience in corporate affairs but established relationships in military, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial petroleum corporations, in 1995 as chair and chief executive.
In 2000 he became Bush's election partner for the presidency. Debatably, during the military campaign, Halliburton was awarded US contracts valued at multiple billions.
It greatly increased his wealth. His yearly earnings during his period at the company increased from his previous salary while military head to $4.4m. When he resigned in 2000 he had a compensation package valued at over $20m|twenty
