The former US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who died at age 84, was considered one of the most powerful incumbents of that office in the nation's history. Whereas many vice-presidents were confined to peripheral or ceremonial functions, Cheney wielded enormous sway during the administration of George W Bush, to the point that he was commonly referred to as the "actual president".
Bush objected to such a characterisation and said the connection was more complex. He noted that Cheney was deferential, consistently calling him in official appearances as the President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush disputed even portrayals of their partnership as a collaboration because it suggested that they were equals. In spite of these objections, Cheney viewed the laidback president accommodating on a whole raft of administrative determinations.
A Period Following the Attacks
In charge of a group of conservative hawks that included military head Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the invasion of Iraq in 2003 in reaction to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 strike, Bush had been taking part in a meeting at a elementary school in Florida. While Bush made his way to a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, directing the downing of any non-communicating aircraft heading toward the US Capitol.
Cheney stated the attacks altered his perspective, leading him to become determined on retaliation. Together with other neo-conservatives, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a occupation of Afghanistan in an endeavor to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the armed intervention of Iraq, although there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein having involvement.
Debated Policies
He expressed no regrets about the invasion, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis died, nor about the waterboarding of suspects apprehended after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was founded on inaccurate reports echoed by Cheney, was the right course of action. "It represented the correct action to do at that time. I was convinced then and I believe it now."
However during that period, there were opposing views at a senior level about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the administration's own representatives to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the position. "I witnessed, at a minimum," he wrote later "obvious failure, carelessness, and unaccountability: potentially, falsehoods, ineptitude, and graft."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not completely to blame for the Iraq invasion. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for comparable steps. He had written a memorandum setting out scenarios in which US concerns might be threatened (encompassing "availability of vital raw materials, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "the United States should be postured to take unilateral action when cooperative measures cannot be arranged," specifically citing defense operations against Iraq.
Bush too had arrived in the presidency generally inclined on executing what his parent had famously refused to do in 1991; topple Saddam. Following he had been fired by the White House, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his intention of diminishing America's participation in the Middle East dispute and mooted defense operations against Iraq.
Bush held a individual resentment against Saddam, believing he had been involved in a scheme to kill his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore disliked that one of the biggest accommodations in Baghdad had a floor mural with a portrait of his predecessor's face that everyone had to step on.
Questioning Techniques
However it was Cheney who was one of the most outspoken advocating striking Iraq, repeatedly referencing agency briefings that were either insubstantial or completely inaccurate. He supported what the Bush administration euphemistically referred to as "intensive questioning", the use of waterboarding and physical pressure.
Responding to a Senate document in 2014 that determined that no valuable data had resulted from the harsh techniques, Cheney dismissed the conclusions as "riddled with crap". He told Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to establish protocols and create initiatives to capture the individuals who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it would not recur. That was specifically what they did and they deserve a lot of credit."
Public Image
Cheney enjoyed nicknames imposed on him by detractors such as the Star Wars villain and the dark figure, and by the notion that he was a sinister influence controlling Bush. In Peter Baker's 2013 book about the two, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is reported as stating: "Is it me who is the malevolent mastermind in the background that nobody ever sees come out of his lair? It's a advantageous way to function, truthfully."
Commercial Ties
Dispute over his business interests accompanied him during his tenure as vice-president. Even though he had minimal expertise in commerce but good contacts in security, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial oil and gas corporations, in 1995 as leader and top executive.
In 2000 he was selected as Bush's VP candidate for the executive branch. Contentiously, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was given US contracts worth billions.
It significantly boosted his finances. His annual income during his period at the company rose from his previous salary during his time as defence secretary to $4.4m. When he resigned in 2000 he had a compensation package totaling over $20m|twenty
