The deceased US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who died at age 84, was seen as arguably the most significant incumbents of that position in American history. Although numerous VPs were confined to marginal or symbolic positions, Cheney exercised substantial sway during the administration of George W Bush, to the point that he was commonly called as the "actual president".
Bush disliked such a characterisation and stated the connection was more nuanced. He noted that Cheney was courteous, consistently addressing him in public as President, while he called him as Dick. Bush questioned even characterisations of their partnership as a team because it indicated that they were on equal footing. Regardless of such protestations, Cheney considered the easygoing president malleable on a wide array of policy decisions.
A Aftermath of 9/11
At the head of a group of neo-conservatives that featured military head Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence 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. When of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been taking part in a meeting at a school in Florida. As Bush made his way to a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney took command, directing the downing of any non-communicating planes heading toward the government building.
Cheney claimed the assaults changed him, causing him to be determined on retribution. Together with other neo-conservatives, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a occupation of Afghanistan in an effort to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the military action of Iraq, though there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein having involvement.
Controversial Actions
He showed no remorse about the armed intervention, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, and not about the waterboarding of suspects captured after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was predicated on misleading reports echoed by Cheney, was the right course of action. "It was the correct action to do then. I had faith back then and I maintain that stance today."
However during that period, there were dissenting voices at a high level about the poor management of Iraq. One of the administration's own representatives to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the post. "I observed, at a minimum," he wrote later "clear negligence, carelessness, and recklessness: at worst, deception, unfitness, and dishonesty."
Additional Factors
Cheney was not completely accountable for the Iraq campaign. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for comparable steps. He had written a memo outlining scenarios in which national priorities might be compromised (featuring "access to essential resources, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "the US should be positioned to act independently when cooperative measures prove impossible," explicitly citing armed actions against Iraq.
Bush additionally had arrived in the White House somewhat determined on executing what his predecessor had notably declined to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. Subsequent to he had been sacked by the president, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had announced his intention of reducing America's engagement in the regional tensions and mooted defense operations against Iraq.
Bush carried a private grievance against Saddam, convinced he had been behind a plot to kill his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He also resented that one of the biggest accommodations in Baghdad had a floor mural with a portrait of his father's face that each person had to step on.
Interrogation Methods
But it was Cheney who was among the most vehement behind invading Iraq, consistently referencing agency briefings that were whether weak or entirely deceptive. He supported what the Bush administration politely called as "intensive questioning", the use of interrogation method and harsh treatment.
Addressing a Senate document in 2014 that concluded that no actionable intelligence had come from the interrogation methods, Cheney rejected the conclusions as "full of crap". He told Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to implement measures and create initiatives to catch the individuals who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it was not repeated. That's exactly what they did and they merit a lot of praise."
Public Persona
Cheney enjoyed labels imposed on him by critics such as the Star Wars villain and the sinister presence, and by the idea that he was a sinister influence directing Bush. In the journalist'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 corner that operates invisibly leave his hole? That is a nice way to operate, actually."
Commercial Ties
Dispute over his corporate affiliations pursued him through his period as vice-president. Although he had minimal expertise in commerce but good contacts in defence, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's largest petroleum conglomerates, in 1995 as chairman and CEO.
In 2000 he became Bush's election partner for the presidency. Controversially, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was granted US contracts totaling multiple billions.
It made him rich. His yearly compensation during his time at the corporation grew from his previous salary during his time as defence secretary to $4.4m. When he departed in 2000 he had a severance arrangement valued at in excess of $20m|twenty
