The deceased US VP Dick Cheney, who passed away at age 84, was seen as arguably the most influential holders of that office in the nation's history. Whereas many second-in-commands were limited to marginal or symbolic functions, Cheney exercised substantial influence during the term of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was often called as the "actual president".
Bush objected to that description and claimed the connection was more nuanced. He observed that Cheney was respectful, consistently addressing him in public as Mr President, while he called him as Dick. Bush questioned even portrayals of their relationship as a collaboration because it indicated that they were on equal footing. Despite such protestations, Cheney viewed the relaxed president pliable on a wide array of administrative determinations.
A Period Following the Attacks
At the head of a group of neo-cons that included military head Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the military intervention of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. At the time of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been taking part in a meeting at a school in Florida. As Bush headed for a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney took command, directing the downing of any non-communicating aircraft heading toward the government building.
Cheney stated the strikes changed him, leading him to become focused on retribution. Along with other conservative figures, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a occupation of Afghanistan in an effort to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the invasion of Iraq, although there was little proof of Saddam Hussein playing a role.
Controversial Actions
He showed no remorse about the invasion, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis died, or about the waterboarding of individuals rounded up after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was founded on misleading intelligence circulated by Cheney, was the right course of action. "It proved to be the correct action to do back then. I was convinced at the time and I believe it presently."
But during that period, there were opposing views at a high level about the poor management of Iraq. One of the administration's own delegates to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the position. "I observed, as a baseline," he later wrote "true dereliction, negligence, and irresponsibility: at worst, falsehoods, incompetence, and dishonesty."
Additional Factors
Cheney was not completely to blame for the Iraq military action. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for comparable steps. He had written a memo detailing scenarios in which national priorities might be threatened (encompassing "availability of essential resources, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "the US should be postured to take unilateral action when collective action cannot be orchestrated," explicitly citing military moves against Iraq.
Bush too had entered the Oval Office vaguely intent on carrying out what his parent had notably declined to do in 1991; topple Saddam. Following he had been sacked by the administration, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the first meeting of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his plan of diminishing America's involvement in the regional tensions and suggested armed intervention against Iraq.
Bush carried a private grievance against Saddam, believing he had been behind a plot to murder his parent, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore resented that one of the most prominent establishments in Baghdad had a floor mural with a image of his father's countenance that all visitors had to tread upon.
Interrogation Methods
Yet it was Cheney who was among the most vociferous supporting striking Iraq, consistently quoting intelligence reports that were whether insubstantial or entirely inaccurate. He endorsed what the Bush government indirectly described as "intensive questioning", the use of waterboarding and torture.
Answering a Senate document in 2014 that concluded that no valuable data had been obtained through the torture, Cheney rejected the report as "riddled with crap". He informed Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to establish protocols and establish initiatives to catch the bastards who took the lives of 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it would not recur. That was specifically what they did and they earn a lot of credit."
Public Image
Cheney reveled in nicknames given to him by critics such as Darth Vader and the sinister presence, and by the concept that he was a sinister influence manipulating Bush. In Peter Baker's 2013 book about the pair, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is reported as stating: "Am I the evil genius in the shadows that remains unseen come out of his hole? This represents a effective way to work, actually."
Business Interests
Controversy over his business interests accompanied him during his tenure as second-in-command. Although he had little experience in commerce but strong connections in military, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's largest oil and gas conglomerates, in 1995 as chairman and chief executive.
In 2000 he became Bush's election partner for the White House. Debatably, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was awarded US contracts totaling billions.
It significantly boosted his finances. His yearly compensation during his period at the firm rose from his quarter-million dollars during his time as military head to $4.4m. When he left in 2000 he had a severance arrangement totaling more than $20m|twenty
