The late US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who died at age 84, was regarded as arguably the most significant holders of that office in American history. While many VPs had to settle for marginal or symbolic roles, Cheney exercised enormous influence during the presidency of George W Bush, to the point that he was frequently described as the "actual president".
Bush resented this portrayal and claimed the dynamic was more nuanced. He pointed out that Cheney was courteous, consistently calling him in official appearances as Mr President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush disputed even characterisations of their association as a team because it indicated that they were on equal footing. In spite of such protestations, Cheney considered the relaxed president malleable on a broad range of governmental choices.
A Post-9/11 Era
Leading of a contingent of conservative hawks that included Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the invasion of Iraq in 2003 in response to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 strike, Bush had been taking part in a session at a school in Florida. Whereas Bush made his way to a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, commanding the downing of any unresponsive aircraft nearing the Capitol building.
Cheney claimed the assaults transformed him, leading him to become intent on revenge. Along with other conservative figures, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a invasion of Afghanistan in an effort to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then pressed fiercely for the military action of Iraq, though there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein playing a role.
Disputed Actions
He showed no remorse about the armed intervention, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, nor about the enhanced interrogation of detainees apprehended after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was based on faulty intelligence repeated by Cheney, was the proper path to take. "It represented the right thing to do then. I had faith back then and I believe it now."
However during that period, there were contrary opinions at a top tier about the botched execution of Iraq. One of the administration's own special envoys to the Middle East, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the post. "I witnessed, as a baseline," he later wrote "obvious failure, carelessness, and recklessness: at worst, falsehoods, unfitness, and graft."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not completely accountable for the Iraq invasion. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for similar measures. He had written a document outlining scenarios in which national priorities might be compromised (encompassing "obtaining vital raw materials, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "America should be positioned to take unilateral action when collective action prove impossible," explicitly referencing defense operations against Iraq.
Bush too had assumed the Oval Office generally inclined on carrying out what his father had specifically avoided to do in 1991; topple Saddam. Subsequent to he had been sacked by the White House, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill disclosed how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his plan of lowering America's involvement in the Middle East dispute and mooted military action against Iraq.
Bush carried a individual resentment against Saddam, convinced he had been behind a conspiracy to assassinate his parent, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally disliked that one of the largest accommodations in Baghdad had a ground design with a likeness of his father's face that each person had to walk over.
Questioning Techniques
Yet it was Cheney who was one of the most vociferous supporting attacking Iraq, repeatedly quoting intelligence reports that were both insubstantial or entirely inaccurate. He backed what the Bush government euphemistically referred to as "enhanced interrogation", the use of interrogation method and physical pressure.
Responding to a Senate report in 2014 that found that no useful information had resulted from the harsh techniques, Cheney rejected the conclusions as "loaded with crap". He informed Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to implement measures and establish initiatives to apprehend the individuals who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it never happened again. That is precisely what they did and they deserve a lot of recognition."
External Perception
Cheney enjoyed labels assigned to him by detractors such as Darth Vader and The Prince of Darkness, and by the idea that he was a sinister influence directing Bush. In Peter Baker'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 shadows that remains unseen emerge from his lair? That is a effective way to operate, truthfully."
Commercial Ties
Controversy over his business interests accompanied him through his period as VP. Although he had minimal expertise in commerce but established relationships in military, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's biggest petroleum conglomerates, in 1995 as chair and top executive.
In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's VP candidate for the presidency. Controversially, during the military campaign, Halliburton was granted US contracts valued at billions.
It significantly boosted his finances. His yearly compensation during his time at the corporation rose from his quarter-million dollars while military head to $4.4m. When he resigned in 2000 he had a severance arrangement totaling more than $20m|twenty
