The deceased US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who died at age 84, was seen as arguably the most powerful incumbents of that position in American history. Whereas countless VPs had to settle for marginal or ceremonial positions, Cheney exercised enormous power during the administration of George W Bush, to the point that he was frequently described as the "real president".
Bush disliked this portrayal and said the relationship was more complex. He pointed out that Cheney was deferential, always addressing him in official appearances as the President, while he called him as Dick. Bush questioned even descriptions of their partnership as a collaboration because it indicated that they were equals. Regardless of these denials, Cheney considered the laidback president malleable on a whole raft of policy decisions.
The Period Following the Attacks
At the head of a contingent of neo-conservatives that included defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the military intervention of Iraq in 2003 in reaction to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. At the time of the 9/11 strike, Bush had been participating in a session at a school in Florida. As Bush made his way to a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, ordering the shooting down of any non-communicating aircraft approaching the US Capitol.
Cheney said the assaults altered his perspective, leading him to become intent on revenge. Along with other conservative figures, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a occupation of Afghanistan in an endeavor to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the invasion of Iraq, even though there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein having involvement.
Debated Policies
He voiced no apologies about the armed intervention, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis died, and not about the enhanced interrogation of individuals rounded up after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was founded on inaccurate reports echoed by Cheney, was the correct decision. "It represented the right thing to do at that time. I believed it at the time and I believe it today."
But even then, there were opposing views at a high level about the botched execution of Iraq. One of the government's own special envoys to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the post. "I observed, as a baseline," he wrote later "true dereliction, carelessness, and irresponsibility: at worst, falsehoods, ineptitude, and graft."
Broader Context
Cheney was not completely to blame for the Iraq military action. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for comparable steps. He had composed a memo outlining situations in which US concerns might be threatened (encompassing "access to crucial commodities, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "the US should be postured to operate alone when joint efforts cannot be arranged," explicitly citing armed actions against Iraq.
Bush additionally had arrived in the White House vaguely intent on implementing what his father had notably declined to do in 1991; remove Saddam. Subsequent to he had been sacked by the administration, the finance chief Paul O'Neill disclosed how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had announced his plan of lowering America's participation in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and mooted defense operations against Iraq.
Bush carried a personal grudge against Saddam, thinking he had been responsible for a scheme to kill his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally disliked that one of the biggest establishments in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a image of his father's visage that each person had to tread upon.
Interrogation Methods
However it was Cheney who was part of the most vociferous advocating attacking Iraq, repeatedly citing agency briefings that were either weak or completely inaccurate. He endorsed what the Bush administration euphemistically referred to as "enhanced interrogation", the application of interrogation method and physical pressure.
Responding to a Senate document in 2014 that found that no useful information had been obtained through the torture, Cheney dismissed the findings as "full of crap". He told Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to implement measures and create programmes to catch the bastards who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it would not recur. That's exactly what they did and they deserve a lot of credit."
Public Image
Cheney reveled in labels imposed on him by opponents such as Darth Vader and the dark figure, and by the idea that he was a sinister influence directing Bush. In Peter Baker's 2013 publication about the duo, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is quoted as saying: "Am I the malevolent mastermind in the corner that remains unseen come out of his lair? This represents a advantageous way to work, actually."
Business Interests
Debate over his business interests pursued him through his period as second-in-command. While he had little experience in commerce but good contacts in security, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's largest petroleum conglomerates, in 1995 as chair and top executive.
In 2000 he was selected as Bush's VP candidate for the White House. Contentiously, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was given US contracts totaling multiple billions.
It greatly increased his wealth. His annual income during his time at the firm rose from his $258,394 during his time as military head to over four million. When he departed in 2000 he had a compensation package totaling in excess of $20m|twenty
