The late US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who died at the age of 84, was seen as arguably the most influential occupants of the vice-presidency in American history. Although countless vice-presidents were limited to minor or ceremonial positions, Cheney held substantial sway during the term of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was often described as the "real president".
Bush resented such a characterisation and stated the dynamic was more complicated. He pointed out that Cheney was courteous, consistently addressing him in official appearances as Mr President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush questioned even characterisations of their partnership as a team because it suggested that they were on equal footing. In spite of such protestations, Cheney found the relaxed president pliable on a broad range of administrative determinations.
A Period Following the Attacks
In charge of a contingent of neo-conservatives that encompassed military head Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in response to the September 11th attacks on New York and Washington. At the time of the 9/11 strike, Bush had been attending a meeting at a elementary school in Florida. As Bush traveled to a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, directing the shooting down of any unresponsive planes approaching the Capitol building.
Cheney stated the assaults altered his perspective, making him become intent on retribution. Along with other neo-conservatives, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a invasion of Afghanistan in an endeavor to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then pressed fiercely for the armed intervention of Iraq, although there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein playing a role.
Debated Decisions
He voiced no apologies about the invasion, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis died, nor about the harsh treatment of suspects apprehended after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was predicated on misleading intelligence echoed by Cheney, was the correct course of action. "It was the proper decision to do at that time. I was convinced then and I hold that view now."
However even at the time, there were opposing views at a senior level about the poor management of Iraq. One of the White House's own representatives to the Middle East, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the post. "I witnessed, at the very least," he subsequently stated "clear negligence, negligence, and recklessness: at worst, falsehoods, unfitness, and dishonesty."
Additional Factors
Cheney was not entirely accountable for the Iraq military action. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for comparable steps. He had written a memorandum setting out situations in which US concerns might be threatened (featuring "availability of vital raw materials, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "the United States should be postured to take unilateral action when collective action cannot be orchestrated," specifically referencing military moves against Iraq.
Bush additionally had entered the Oval Office somewhat determined on executing what his parent had famously refused to do in 1991; topple Saddam. Following he had been fired by the president, the finance chief Paul O'Neill disclosed how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his objective of reducing America's participation in the Middle East dispute and mooted armed intervention against Iraq.
Bush carried a private grievance against Saddam, believing he had been behind a plot to assassinate his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore resented that one of the biggest hotels in Baghdad had a floor mural with a portrait of his parent's visage that everyone had to walk over.
Investigation Approaches
Yet it was Cheney who was among the most outspoken advocating invading Iraq, frequently referencing information documents that were both weak or entirely inaccurate. He backed what the Bush administration politely called as "advanced techniques", the use of interrogation method and torture.
Answering a Senate analysis in 2014 that determined that no useful information had come from the torture, Cheney disregarded the report as "loaded with crap". He told Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to take steps and establish procedures to apprehend the perpetrators who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it was not repeated. That is precisely what they did and they earn a lot of recognition."
Public Persona
Cheney reveled in monikers given to him by detractors such as the dark character and the sinister presence, and by the concept that he was a dark force controlling Bush. In Peter Baker's 2013 publication about the pair, 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 corner that operates invisibly leave his domain? That is a advantageous way to operate, in fact."
Corporate Connections
Dispute over his commercial relationships followed him throughout his time as vice-president. While he had limited background in business but strong connections in security, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's biggest petroleum corporations, in 1995 as leader and top executive.
In 2000 he was selected as Bush's running mate for the White House. Contentiously, during the military campaign, Halliburton was awarded US deals totaling multiple billions.
It significantly boosted his finances. His yearly earnings during his time at the company increased from his previous salary while defence secretary to $4.4m. When he resigned in 2000 he had a compensation package worth over $20m|twenty
