The late US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who died at the age of 84, was regarded as one of the most powerful occupants of that office in American history. Although many vice-presidents had to settle for peripheral or ceremonial functions, Cheney held huge power during the administration of George W Bush, to the point that he was often called as the "actual president".
Bush resented such a characterisation and claimed the dynamic was more complex. He pointed out that Cheney was respectful, consistently addressing him in public settings as the President, while he called him as Dick. Bush challenged even portrayals of their association as a team because it suggested that they were peers. Regardless of such protestations, Cheney considered the relaxed president malleable on a whole raft of administrative determinations.
A Post-9/11 Era
At the head of a faction of neo-conservatives that encompassed defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the military intervention of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been participating in a meeting at a elementary school in Florida. As Bush traveled to a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, ordering the downing of any unidentified aircraft heading toward the US Capitol.
Cheney stated the attacks altered his perspective, causing him to be focused on retribution. Along with other neo-conservatives, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a takeover of Afghanistan in an attempt to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the armed intervention of Iraq, even though there was little proof of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Disputed Actions
He voiced no apologies about the military campaign, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis died, or about the harsh treatment of suspects apprehended after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was founded on inaccurate reports circulated by Cheney, was the proper path to take. "It proved to be the correct action to do then. I believed it then and I believe it presently."
However during that period, there were contrary opinions at a top tier about the botched execution of Iraq. One of the government's own delegates to the Middle East, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the position. "I saw, at a minimum," he subsequently stated "obvious failure, inaction, and recklessness: in the worst case, deception, unfitness, and dishonesty."
Additional Factors
Cheney was not completely responsible for the Iraq campaign. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for similar measures. He had composed a memorandum detailing situations in which American interests might be endangered (including "availability of essential resources, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "the United States should be positioned to act independently when joint efforts cannot be orchestrated," particularly referencing armed actions against Iraq.
Bush additionally had entered the White House somewhat determined on carrying out what his predecessor had specifically avoided to do in 1991; topple Saddam. Subsequent to he had been sacked by the White House, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his intention of lowering America's involvement in the Middle East dispute and suggested military action against Iraq.
Bush carried a personal grudge against Saddam, convinced he had been behind a plot to assassinate his parent, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally disliked that one of the most prominent accommodations in Baghdad had a ground design with a likeness of his predecessor's countenance that each person had to walk over.
Interrogation Methods
But it was Cheney who was one of the most outspoken advocating attacking Iraq, consistently referencing agency briefings that were both weak or totally misleading. He endorsed what the Bush administration indirectly described as "intensive questioning", the application of simulated drowning and physical pressure.
Answering a Senate analysis in 2014 that concluded that no useful information had resulted from the interrogation methods, Cheney rejected the conclusions as "riddled with crap". He told Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to take steps and create programmes to apprehend the bastards who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it never happened again. That is precisely what they did and they deserve a lot of credit."
Public Persona
Cheney took pleasure in nicknames imposed on him by detractors such as Darth Vader and the dark figure, and by the idea that he was a shadow power manipulating Bush. In the author's 2013 volume about the duo, 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 come out of his domain? This represents a effective way to operate, truthfully."
Corporate Connections
Dispute over his corporate affiliations followed him during his tenure as second-in-command. While he had little experience in corporate affairs but good contacts in security, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's largest energy companies, in 1995 as chairman and top executive.
In 2000 he became Bush's running mate for the White House. Contentiously, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was awarded US deals valued at multiple billions.
It greatly increased his wealth. His yearly earnings during his time at the firm increased from his $258,394 while Pentagon chief to millions. When he left in 2000 he had a package worth over $20m|twenty
