The deceased US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who passed away at the age of 84, was regarded as one of the most influential occupants of that office in US history. While many VPs were limited to peripheral or figurehead positions, Cheney held enormous influence during the term of George W Bush, to the point that he was commonly referred to as the "actual president".
Bush resented that description and claimed the relationship was more complicated. He observed that Cheney was courteous, always referring to him in official appearances as Mr President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush disputed even descriptions of their partnership as a team because it implied that they were on equal footing. Despite such protestations, Cheney found the easygoing president malleable on a whole raft of governmental choices.
A Period Following the Attacks
In charge of a group of neo-cons that featured military head Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the military intervention of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. During of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been participating in a session at a educational institution in Florida. Whereas Bush traveled to a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, directing the destruction of any non-communicating aircraft heading toward the government building.
Cheney said the assaults altered his perspective, making him become intent on retaliation. Along with other neo-conservatives, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a invasion of Afghanistan in an effort to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then pressed fiercely for the military action of Iraq, though there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Disputed Decisions
He expressed no regrets about the military campaign, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, nor about the waterboarding of individuals captured after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was founded on misleading information repeated by Cheney, was the right decision. "It proved to be the correct action to do then. I had faith then and I believe it now."
Yet even then, there were contrary opinions at a senior level about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the White House's own representatives to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the post. "I saw, as a baseline," he subsequently stated "clear negligence, inaction, and irresponsibility: potentially, falsehoods, incompetence, and graft."
Additional Factors
Cheney was not entirely accountable for the Iraq military action. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for comparable steps. He had written a memorandum setting out situations in which US concerns might be threatened (encompassing "availability of vital raw materials, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "the United States should be postured to operate alone when collective action cannot be orchestrated," specifically mentioning military moves against Iraq.
Bush also had arrived in the Oval Office vaguely intent on executing what his predecessor had specifically avoided to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. Subsequent to he had been sacked by the president, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his intention of lowering America's engagement in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and proposed military action against Iraq.
Bush held a individual resentment against Saddam, convinced he had been behind a conspiracy to kill his parent, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He also objected to that one of the largest accommodations in Baghdad had a floor mural with a image of his predecessor's visage that everyone had to step on.
Questioning Techniques
However it was Cheney who was part of the most outspoken behind striking Iraq, consistently referencing agency briefings that were both weak or completely inaccurate. He backed what the Bush government indirectly described as "advanced techniques", the use of interrogation method and harsh treatment.
Addressing a Senate report in 2014 that found that no actionable intelligence had resulted from the harsh techniques, Cheney disregarded the findings as "riddled with crap". He stated to Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to take steps and establish programmes to capture 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 merit a lot of praise."
Public Image
Cheney took pleasure in nicknames imposed on him by critics such as the dark character and The Prince of Darkness, and by the concept that he was a dark force directing Bush. In the author's 2013 book about the duo, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is reported as stating: "Is it me who is the evil genius in the shadows that nobody ever sees come out of his lair? It's a nice way to function, in fact."
Commercial Ties
Dispute over his corporate affiliations pursued him through his period as second-in-command. Even though he had minimal expertise in business but good contacts in military, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial oil and gas companies, in 1995 as leader and CEO.
In 2000 he became Bush's VP candidate for the executive branch. Controversially, during the military campaign, Halliburton was awarded US contracts valued at billions.
It greatly increased his wealth. His yearly earnings during his tenure at the firm grew from his previous salary when he was defence secretary to over four million. When he resigned in 2000 he had a compensation package worth in excess of $20m|twenty
