The former US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who died at age 84, was seen as arguably the most significant holders of that office in the nation's history. Whereas many VPs were confined to marginal or ceremonial functions, Cheney exercised enormous power during the administration of George W Bush, so much so that he was commonly called as the "actual president".
Bush disliked this portrayal and claimed the relationship was more complex. He observed that Cheney was deferential, consistently addressing him in public settings as President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush challenged even portrayals of their partnership as a collaboration because it suggested that they were peers. In spite of these objections, Cheney considered the relaxed president pliable on a whole raft of administrative determinations.
A Post-9/11 Era
In charge of a group of conservative hawks that featured defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the invasion of Iraq in 2003 in reaction to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. During of the 9/11 strike, Bush had been participating in a meeting at a elementary school in Florida. Whereas Bush traveled to a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney took command, ordering the downing of any non-communicating aircraft approaching the government building.
Cheney stated the attacks altered his perspective, making him become determined on revenge. Along with other conservative figures, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a invasion of Afghanistan in an endeavor to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the invasion of Iraq, although there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Debated Actions
He showed no remorse about the invasion, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis perished, or about the waterboarding of detainees captured after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was founded on misleading intelligence circulated by Cheney, was the proper decision. "It proved to be the correct action to do at that time. I believed it then and I believe it now."
However during that period, there were dissenting voices at a senior level about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the administration's own special envoys to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the role. "I witnessed, at a minimum," he wrote later "true dereliction, carelessness, and unaccountability: in the worst case, deception, unfitness, and corruption."
Additional Factors
Cheney was not entirely to blame for the Iraq military action. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for comparable steps. He had written a document outlining situations in which American interests might be endangered (including "availability of essential resources, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "America should be postured to act independently when joint efforts cannot be arranged," specifically referencing defense operations against Iraq.
Bush too had assumed the presidency somewhat determined on implementing what his father had famously refused to do in 1991; remove Saddam. Following he had been sacked by the president, the finance chief Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his plan of diminishing America's engagement in the Middle East dispute and suggested defense operations against Iraq.
Bush carried a personal grudge against Saddam, believing he had been involved in a scheme to kill his parent, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore resented that one of the biggest hotels in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a portrait of his father's visage that everyone had to step on.
Questioning Techniques
However it was Cheney who was part of the most vehement supporting attacking Iraq, frequently citing intelligence reports that were either weak or entirely deceptive. He backed what the Bush administration politely called as "enhanced interrogation", the employment of interrogation method and harsh treatment.
Addressing a Senate report in 2014 that concluded that no valuable data had come from the harsh techniques, Cheney dismissed the findings as "riddled with crap". He told Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to take steps and establish procedures to catch the individuals who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it was not repeated. That was specifically what they did and they merit a lot of credit."
Public Persona
Cheney enjoyed nicknames imposed on him by opponents such as Darth Vader and the sinister presence, and by the concept that he was a dark force manipulating Bush. In the author's 2013 volume about the two, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is cited as commenting: "Am I the sinister strategist in the shadows that remains unseen emerge from his lair? This represents a effective way to work, actually."
Commercial Ties
Dispute over his corporate affiliations pursued him throughout his time as second-in-command. While he had minimal expertise in commerce but strong connections in security, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's biggest oil and gas corporations, in 1995 as chair and CEO.
In 2000 he became Bush's election partner for the presidency. Contentiously, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was awarded US contracts totaling billions.
It made him rich. His yearly compensation during his period at the company increased from his quarter-million dollars during his time as military head to millions. When he resigned in 2000 he had a severance arrangement valued at over $20m|twenty
