The former US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who died at the age of 84, was seen as arguably the most significant holders of that position in the nation's history. Whereas many vice-presidents were limited to minor or figurehead functions, Cheney held huge sway during the administration of George W Bush, to the point that he was frequently described as the "actual president".
Bush resented this portrayal and stated the dynamic was more complicated. He pointed out that Cheney was courteous, invariably addressing him in official appearances as President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush challenged even characterisations of their association as a collaboration because it indicated that they were peers. In spite of such protestations, Cheney considered the easygoing president pliable on a broad range of administrative determinations.
A Aftermath of 9/11
At the head of a faction of conservative hawks that featured military head Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in response to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. At the time of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been taking part in a gathering at a school in Florida. While Bush traveled to a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, ordering the destruction of any non-communicating aircraft heading toward the government building.
Cheney claimed the attacks transformed him, making him become focused on revenge. In conjunction with other neo-conservatives, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a invasion of Afghanistan in an endeavor to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the military action of Iraq, although there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein playing a role.
Disputed Actions
He expressed no regrets about the military campaign, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis died, nor about the waterboarding of detainees apprehended after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was based on misleading information circulated by Cheney, was the proper path to take. "It represented the correct action to do then. I believed it then and I hold that view now."
However even then, there were opposing views at a high level about the botched execution of Iraq. One of the White House's own delegates to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the post. "I witnessed, at the very least," he wrote later "clear negligence, inaction, and unaccountability: potentially, deception, ineptitude, and dishonesty."
Additional Factors
Cheney was not solely to blame for the Iraq campaign. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for similar measures. He had composed a memo outlining situations in which national priorities might be threatened (encompassing "obtaining vital raw materials, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "the US should be prepared to take unilateral action when collective action cannot be orchestrated," explicitly referencing armed actions against Iraq.
Bush also had entered the Oval Office generally inclined on carrying out what his predecessor had specifically avoided to do in 1991; remove Saddam. After he had been dismissed by the president, the finance chief Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his objective of reducing America's participation in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and suggested military action against Iraq.
Bush carried a personal grudge against Saddam, believing he had been responsible for a scheme to assassinate his parent, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally disliked that one of the most prominent accommodations in Baghdad had a ground design with a portrait of his predecessor's face that each person had to step on.
Investigation Approaches
But it was Cheney who was one of the most vehement behind invading Iraq, frequently quoting intelligence reports that were either insubstantial or completely deceptive. He supported what the Bush administration euphemistically referred to as "enhanced interrogation", the employment of waterboarding and physical pressure.
Answering a Senate analysis in 2014 that determined that no valuable data had been obtained through the torture, Cheney rejected the report as "riddled with crap". He stated to Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to establish protocols and establish procedures to apprehend the bastards who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it would not recur. That was specifically what they did and they earn a lot of praise."
External Perception
Cheney enjoyed monikers assigned to him by critics such as the dark character and the sinister presence, and by the idea that he was a shadow power manipulating Bush. In the journalist's 2013 book about the duo, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is quoted as saying: "Am I the evil genius in the background that operates invisibly leave his hole? It's a nice way to operate, truthfully."
Business Interests
Debate over his commercial relationships accompanied him through his period as vice-president. Even though he had little experience in business but established relationships in defence, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's largest petroleum companies, in 1995 as leader and top executive.
In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's running mate for the presidency. Contentiously, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was granted US contracts totaling substantial sums.
It greatly increased his wealth. His annual income during his time at the firm rose from his quarter-million dollars when he was defence secretary to over four million. When he resigned in 2000 he had a compensation package valued at over $20m|twenty
