The former US VP Dick Cheney, who died at age 84, was seen as among the most influential occupants of that office in American history. Although countless second-in-commands were confined to minor or symbolic functions, Cheney wielded huge sway during the administration of George W Bush, to the point that he was frequently described as the "true president".
Bush resented that description and stated the dynamic was more nuanced. He pointed out that Cheney was respectful, invariably addressing him in public as President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush challenged even descriptions of their relationship as a partnership because it implied that they were peers. Despite these denials, Cheney considered the laidback president pliable on a broad range of policy decisions.
The Period Following the Attacks
In charge of a group of neo-cons that featured Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the military intervention of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the September 11th attacks on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 strike, Bush had been taking part in a gathering at a educational institution in Florida. As Bush made his way to a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, directing the destruction of any unidentified planes approaching the US Capitol.
Cheney said the attacks transformed him, making him become intent on retribution. Along with other neo-cons, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a takeover of Afghanistan in an effort to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then pressed fiercely for the invasion of Iraq, although there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Disputed Actions
He showed no remorse about the armed intervention, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis perished, and not about the waterboarding of detainees captured after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was predicated on misleading reports repeated by Cheney, was the proper decision. "It was the right thing to do then. I believed it at the time and I hold that view now."
But even at the time, there were opposing views at a high level about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the White House's own special envoys to the Middle East, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the post. "I saw, at the very least," he later wrote "obvious failure, inaction, and irresponsibility: at worst, falsehoods, unfitness, and dishonesty."
Additional Factors
Cheney was not entirely to blame for the Iraq invasion. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for such action. He had composed a document setting out circumstances in which US concerns might be endangered (including "availability of essential resources, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "the US should be positioned to act independently when joint efforts prove impossible," particularly mentioning military moves against Iraq.
Bush additionally had arrived in the White House vaguely intent on executing what his parent had famously refused to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. Subsequent to he had been fired by the president, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had announced his plan of reducing America's involvement in the regional tensions and suggested defense operations against Iraq.
Bush held a private grievance against Saddam, thinking he had been involved in a conspiracy to murder his predecessor, 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 surface artwork with a likeness of his father's countenance that all visitors had to walk over.
Interrogation Methods
But it was Cheney who was among the most outspoken advocating attacking Iraq, repeatedly quoting intelligence reports that were whether thin or entirely deceptive. He endorsed what the Bush administration euphemistically referred to as "advanced techniques", the employment of simulated drowning and torture.
Addressing a Senate report in 2014 that found that no valuable data had been obtained through the harsh techniques, Cheney rejected the findings as "riddled with crap". He informed Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to establish protocols and put in place procedures to catch the bastards who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it would not recur. That is precisely what they did and they earn a lot of credit."
External Perception
Cheney enjoyed labels given to him by detractors such as the dark character and the sinister presence, and by the notion that he was a sinister influence manipulating Bush. In the journalist's 2013 volume about the two, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is cited as commenting: "Is it me who is the sinister strategist in the background that remains unseen leave his domain? It's a advantageous way to work, truthfully."
Business Interests
Debate over his commercial relationships followed him throughout his time as second-in-command. While he had little experience in corporate affairs but good contacts in security, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's largest oil and gas companies, in 1995 as leader and chief executive.
In 2000 he became Bush's running mate for the presidency. Controversially, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was granted US contracts worth billions.
It greatly increased his wealth. His yearly compensation during his period at the corporation increased from his $258,394 during his time as defence secretary to $4.4m. When he departed in 2000 he had a package totaling in excess of $20m|twenty
