The late US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who passed away at age 84, was seen as arguably the most powerful occupants of that office in US history. Although countless VPs had to settle for minor or symbolic functions, Cheney wielded huge sway during the term of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was commonly described as the "true president".
Bush disliked that description and said the relationship was more nuanced. He pointed out that Cheney was respectful, always calling him in official appearances as Mr President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush disputed even characterisations of their association as a partnership because it implied that they were on equal footing. In spite of such protestations, Cheney found the easygoing president accommodating on a wide array of policy decisions.
The Post-9/11 Era
Leading of a group of neo-conservatives that featured Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the September 11th attacks on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 strike, Bush had been participating in a meeting at a educational institution in Florida. Whereas Bush headed for a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, commanding the downing of any non-communicating aircraft heading toward the government building.
Cheney said the strikes changed him, leading him to become intent on revenge. Together with other neo-conservatives, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a takeover of Afghanistan in an endeavor to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the military action of Iraq, although there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein playing a role.
Disputed Actions
He expressed no regrets about the armed intervention, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis perished, and not about the harsh treatment of suspects apprehended after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was predicated on misleading intelligence repeated by Cheney, was the proper decision. "It proved to be the correct action to do at that time. I believed it at the time and I maintain that stance now."
However during that period, there were dissenting voices at a top tier about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the administration's own representatives to the Middle East, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the post. "I saw, at a minimum," he subsequently stated "obvious failure, negligence, and unaccountability: potentially, deception, incompetence, and corruption."
Additional Factors
Cheney was not entirely to blame for the Iraq campaign. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for such action. He had composed a document outlining scenarios in which national priorities might be endangered (including "obtaining crucial commodities, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "the US should be postured to take unilateral action when cooperative measures cannot be arranged," explicitly referencing defense operations against Iraq.
Bush also had arrived in the White House vaguely intent on implementing what his parent had specifically avoided to do in 1991; remove Saddam. Following he had been fired by the administration, the finance chief Paul O'Neill disclosed how, at the first meeting of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his intention of reducing America's participation in the Middle East dispute and mooted defense operations against Iraq.
Bush carried a private grievance against Saddam, believing he had been responsible for a conspiracy to murder his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally resented that one of the most prominent accommodations in Baghdad had a floor mural with a likeness of his predecessor's countenance that all visitors had to walk over.
Interrogation Methods
However it was Cheney who was part of the most vehement behind invading Iraq, consistently quoting intelligence reports that were either weak or completely deceptive. He backed what the Bush administration euphemistically referred to as "intensive questioning", the use of simulated drowning and physical pressure.
Responding to a Senate document in 2014 that found that no useful information had resulted from the torture, Cheney dismissed the conclusions as "full of crap". He informed Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to take steps and put in place procedures to apprehend the individuals who took the lives of 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it was not repeated. That is precisely what they did and they earn a lot of recognition."
External Perception
Cheney reveled in labels assigned to him by opponents such as Darth Vader and The Prince of Darkness, and by the idea that he was a dark force directing Bush. In the journalist's 2013 volume about the duo, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is quoted as saying: "Is it me who is the sinister strategist in the background that operates invisibly leave his hole? This represents a advantageous way to function, actually."
Commercial Ties
Dispute over his commercial relationships followed him during his tenure as VP. Although he had little experience in commerce but strong connections in military, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's biggest petroleum corporations, in 1995 as leader and top executive.
In 2000 he became Bush's VP candidate for the White House. Contentiously, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was given US contracts valued at multiple billions.
It significantly boosted his finances. His yearly earnings during his period at the company grew from his quarter-million dollars when he was military head to millions. When he resigned in 2000 he had a severance arrangement valued at in excess of $20m|twenty
