The deceased US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who has died at age 84, was seen as arguably the most significant incumbents of that office in American history. Whereas many vice-presidents had to settle for marginal or ceremonial positions, Cheney exercised enormous power during the presidency of George W Bush, to the point that he was commonly referred to as the "true president".
Bush disliked that description and stated the connection was more complicated. He pointed out that Cheney was deferential, invariably calling him in public as President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush questioned even characterisations of their partnership as a collaboration because it suggested that they were equals. Regardless of these denials, Cheney viewed the easygoing president accommodating on a broad range of governmental choices.
The Period Following the Attacks
At the head of a group of neo-conservatives that included defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the military intervention of Iraq in 2003 in response to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. During of the 9/11 strike, Bush had been participating in a session at a school in Florida. As Bush made his way to a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, commanding the shooting down of any unresponsive airplanes nearing the government building.
Cheney claimed the assaults transformed him, leading him to become determined on retribution. Along with other neo-conservatives, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a takeover of Afghanistan in an endeavor to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the military action of Iraq, although there was little proof of Saddam Hussein playing a role.
Debated Policies
He voiced no apologies about the invasion, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, and not about the waterboarding of suspects captured after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was predicated on inaccurate intelligence echoed by Cheney, was the correct course of action. "It proved to be the proper decision to do at that time. I was convinced at the time and I hold that view now."
However during that period, there were dissenting voices at a top tier about the poor management of Iraq. One of the White House's own special envoys to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the role. "I saw, at the very least," he later wrote "obvious failure, inaction, and recklessness: potentially, lying, ineptitude, and dishonesty."
Additional Factors
Cheney was not entirely responsible for the Iraq campaign. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for such action. He had drafted a document detailing situations in which national priorities might be threatened (encompassing "availability of essential resources, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "America should be positioned to operate alone when joint efforts prove impossible," specifically citing military moves against Iraq.
Bush also had entered the presidency generally inclined on carrying out what his father had specifically avoided to do in 1991; topple Saddam. After he had been dismissed 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 announced his objective of reducing America's engagement in the Middle East dispute and suggested armed intervention against Iraq.
Bush bore a individual resentment against Saddam, thinking he had been behind a conspiracy to kill his father, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore disliked that one of the largest accommodations in Baghdad had a ground design with a likeness of his parent's countenance that each person had to step on.
Investigation Approaches
However it was Cheney who was part of the most vociferous advocating attacking Iraq, repeatedly quoting information documents that were either insubstantial or totally inaccurate. He supported what the Bush administration euphemistically referred to as "enhanced interrogation", the use of waterboarding and torture.
Addressing a Senate document in 2014 that determined that no valuable data had come from the torture, Cheney dismissed the report as "riddled with crap". He informed Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to take steps and put in place procedures to catch the perpetrators who took the lives of 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it would not recur. That is precisely what they did and they earn a lot of praise."
External Perception
Cheney enjoyed labels given to him by opponents such as the dark character and The Prince of Darkness, and by the concept that he was a sinister influence controlling Bush. In the author's 2013 volume about the duo, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is reported as stating: "Am I the evil genius in the corner that nobody ever sees leave his domain? That is a effective way to function, actually."
Corporate Connections
Dispute over his commercial relationships followed him through his period as vice-president. While he had little experience in corporate affairs but strong connections in defence, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial petroleum corporations, in 1995 as chair and chief executive.
In 2000 he became Bush's running mate for the executive branch. Debatably, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was awarded US agreements totaling multiple billions.
It made him rich. His annual income during his time at the company increased from his quarter-million dollars during his time as military head to over four million. When he resigned in 2000 he had a severance arrangement totaling in excess of $20m|twenty
