The deceased US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who passed away at age 84, was regarded as arguably the most significant holders of that position in American history. Although numerous VPs were confined to minor or symbolic roles, Cheney held enormous power during the presidency of George W Bush, to the point that he was often described as the "actual president".
Bush resented this portrayal and claimed the relationship was more nuanced. He observed that Cheney was respectful, invariably addressing him in public as President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush challenged even characterisations of their partnership as a team because it suggested that they were equals. Regardless of such protestations, Cheney considered the easygoing president accommodating on a whole raft of administrative determinations.
A Post-9/11 Era
At the head of a group of conservative hawks that included military head Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been taking part in a meeting at a elementary school in Florida. As Bush traveled to a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, ordering the destruction of any unresponsive aircraft approaching the US Capitol.
Cheney claimed the strikes transformed him, causing him to be focused on retaliation. Along with other conservative figures, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a occupation of Afghanistan in an effort to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the armed intervention of Iraq, though there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein having involvement.
Disputed Policies
He showed no remorse about the military campaign, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis perished, nor about the waterboarding of detainees captured after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was based on misleading reports circulated by Cheney, was the correct path to take. "It proved to be the proper decision to do back then. I had faith then and I hold that view today."
But even then, there were contrary opinions at a senior level about the botched execution of Iraq. One of the White House's own special envoys to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the position. "I saw, at the very least," he later wrote "obvious failure, carelessness, and irresponsibility: in the worst case, falsehoods, ineptitude, and dishonesty."
Additional Factors
Cheney was not solely accountable for the Iraq military action. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for such action. He had composed a memorandum setting out situations in which US concerns might be compromised (including "obtaining essential resources, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "the US should be positioned to take unilateral action when cooperative measures cannot be orchestrated," specifically mentioning defense operations against Iraq.
Bush also had assumed the Oval Office generally inclined on executing what his father had famously refused to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. Subsequent to he had been sacked by the president, the finance chief Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his objective of reducing America's involvement in the Middle East dispute and mooted military action against Iraq.
Bush bore a private grievance against Saddam, thinking he had been behind a scheme to murder his parent, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He also resented that one of the most prominent establishments in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a portrait of his father's visage that all visitors had to step on.
Investigation Approaches
Yet it was Cheney who was among the most outspoken behind invading Iraq, frequently quoting information documents that were either weak or totally deceptive. He supported what the Bush administration politely called as "enhanced interrogation", the application of waterboarding and torture.
Addressing a Senate document in 2014 that determined that no valuable data had resulted from the torture, Cheney dismissed the report as "full of crap". He told Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to take steps and create initiatives to apprehend the bastards who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it was not repeated. That's exactly what they did and they deserve a lot of recognition."
External Perception
Cheney reveled in monikers assigned to him by opponents such as the Star Wars villain and The Prince of Darkness, and by the notion that he was a dark force controlling Bush. In the author's 2013 volume about the duo, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is cited as commenting: "Am I the malevolent mastermind in the corner that operates invisibly leave his lair? It's a effective way to function, actually."
Corporate Connections
Dispute over his commercial relationships followed him through his period as second-in-command. While he had limited background in commerce but good contacts in defence, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial energy corporations, in 1995 as leader and CEO.
In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's VP candidate for the presidency. Contentiously, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was given US contracts totaling substantial sums.
It significantly boosted his finances. His yearly compensation during his period at the corporation increased from his previous salary when he was Pentagon chief to $4.4m. When he departed in 2000 he had a compensation package valued at over $20m|twenty
