The deceased US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who died at the age of 84, was considered arguably the most powerful incumbents of that position in US history. Although many VPs had to settle for marginal or symbolic functions, Cheney wielded huge influence during the presidency of George W Bush, so much so that he was often referred to as the "real president".
Bush objected to such a characterisation and stated the dynamic was more nuanced. He pointed out that Cheney was deferential, invariably addressing him in public as the President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush challenged even descriptions of their relationship as a collaboration because it suggested that they were equals. In spite of such protestations, Cheney found the laidback president malleable on a whole raft of administrative determinations.
A Aftermath of 9/11
At the head of a group of neo-conservatives that encompassed military head Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the September 11th attacks on New York and Washington. During of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been participating in a gathering at a educational institution in Florida. Whereas Bush traveled to a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, ordering the downing of any unidentified airplanes heading toward the government building.
Cheney claimed the attacks changed him, causing him to be intent on retribution. Along with other neo-cons, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a invasion of Afghanistan in an effort to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the military action of Iraq, though there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein having involvement.
Disputed Policies
He expressed no regrets about the military campaign, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, or about the enhanced interrogation of individuals apprehended after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was predicated on faulty reports circulated by Cheney, was the right path to take. "It proved to be the right thing to do back then. I had faith then and I hold that view presently."
However even then, there were opposing views at a senior level about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the White House's own representatives to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the position. "I observed, at the very least," he subsequently stated "obvious failure, carelessness, and unaccountability: in the worst case, falsehoods, incompetence, and dishonesty."
Additional Factors
Cheney was not completely responsible for the Iraq invasion. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for similar measures. He had composed a document setting out circumstances in which US concerns might be compromised (encompassing "access to essential resources, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "the US should be postured to operate alone when joint efforts cannot be arranged," specifically mentioning defense operations against Iraq.
Bush too had entered the presidency generally inclined on executing what his predecessor had specifically avoided to do in 1991; topple Saddam. After he had been fired by the White House, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill disclosed how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had announced his objective of diminishing America's engagement in the Middle East dispute and suggested military action against Iraq.
Bush bore a personal grudge against Saddam, convinced he had been behind a plot to murder his father, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He also disliked that one of the biggest establishments in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a portrait of his predecessor's countenance that each person had to tread upon.
Investigation Approaches
Yet it was Cheney who was part of the most vociferous advocating invading Iraq, frequently quoting agency briefings that were whether weak or entirely inaccurate. He supported what the Bush administration politely called as "intensive questioning", the application of simulated drowning and physical pressure.
Answering a Senate document in 2014 that found that no valuable data had been obtained through the harsh techniques, Cheney disregarded the report as "riddled with crap". He stated to Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to establish protocols and create initiatives to capture the perpetrators who took the lives of 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it never happened again. That is precisely what they did and they merit a lot of praise."
External Perception
Cheney enjoyed nicknames imposed on him by critics such as Darth Vader and the sinister presence, and by the idea that he was a dark force controlling Bush. In the journalist's 2013 volume about the two, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is reported as stating: "Am I the malevolent mastermind in the corner that nobody ever sees come out of his hole? That is a advantageous way to operate, truthfully."
Business Interests
Dispute over his corporate affiliations pursued him throughout his time as VP. While he had little experience in corporate affairs but strong connections in security, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's largest oil and gas corporations, in 1995 as chair and CEO.
In 2000 he was selected as Bush's election partner for the White House. Controversially, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was given US deals worth billions.
It made him rich. His annual income during his period at the company grew from his quarter-million dollars during his time as defence secretary to millions. When he resigned in 2000 he had a severance arrangement worth more than $20m|twenty
