The deceased US vice-president Dick Cheney, who died at age 84, was seen as among the most significant holders of the vice-presidency in US history. Whereas countless second-in-commands were limited to peripheral or figurehead roles, Cheney exercised substantial sway during the administration of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was frequently called as the "actual president".
Bush resented this portrayal and said the connection was more complex. He noted that Cheney was respectful, always referring to him in official appearances as the President, while he called him as Dick. Bush challenged even descriptions of their association as a collaboration because it implied that they were equals. In spite of these denials, Cheney considered the laidback president accommodating on a whole raft of administrative determinations.
The Period Following the Attacks
Leading of a group of neo-conservatives that featured defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. At the time of the 9/11 assault, Bush had been attending a session at a elementary school in Florida. Whereas Bush traveled to a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, directing the shooting down of any non-communicating aircraft approaching the government building.
Cheney claimed the strikes changed him, leading him to become determined on revenge. Together with other neo-cons, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a occupation of Afghanistan in an endeavor to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then pressed fiercely for the invasion of Iraq, although there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein having involvement.
Disputed Actions
He expressed no regrets about the military campaign, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, or about the harsh treatment of detainees apprehended after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was predicated on inaccurate intelligence echoed by Cheney, was the proper decision. "It represented the correct action to do back then. I had faith back then and I believe it presently."
However even at the time, there were opposing views at a top tier about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the White House's own representatives to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the role. "I saw, at a minimum," he wrote later "obvious failure, inaction, and unaccountability: potentially, falsehoods, incompetence, and graft."
Additional Factors
Cheney was not entirely to blame for the Iraq campaign. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for similar measures. He had drafted a document outlining circumstances in which American interests might be threatened (encompassing "availability of crucial commodities, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "the United States should be positioned to take unilateral action when collective action cannot be arranged," explicitly referencing military moves against Iraq.
Bush also had entered the White House somewhat determined on implementing what his father had specifically avoided to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. After he had been dismissed by the administration, the finance chief Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his intention of reducing America's engagement in the regional tensions and suggested armed intervention against Iraq.
Bush held a private grievance against Saddam, thinking he had been responsible for a conspiracy to murder his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally disliked that one of the most prominent hotels in Baghdad had a floor mural with a likeness of his parent's face that all visitors had to walk over.
Questioning Techniques
Yet it was Cheney who was among the most vehement supporting attacking Iraq, frequently citing information documents that were whether thin or completely misleading. He supported what the Bush administration indirectly described as "enhanced interrogation", the employment of waterboarding and physical pressure.
Addressing a Senate document in 2014 that determined that no actionable intelligence had resulted from the torture, Cheney disregarded the report as "riddled with crap". He told Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to implement measures and put in place procedures to capture the individuals who took the lives of 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it was not repeated. That was specifically what they did and they earn a lot of praise."
Public Image
Cheney reveled in labels assigned to him by critics such as the Star Wars villain and The Prince of Darkness, and by the notion that he was a dark force manipulating Bush. In Peter Baker's 2013 book 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 shadows that remains unseen emerge from his lair? That is a effective way to function, truthfully."
Business Interests
Dispute over his corporate affiliations accompanied him during his tenure as VP. Although he had little experience in corporate affairs but good contacts in security, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial energy corporations, in 1995 as leader and top executive.
In 2000 he became Bush's VP candidate for the executive branch. Contentiously, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was given US contracts worth billions.
It significantly boosted his finances. His annual income during his tenure at the company rose from his $258,394 when he was military head to millions. When he resigned in 2000 he had a package totaling in excess of $20m|twenty
