The deceased US VP Dick Cheney, who died at the age of 84, was regarded as among the most influential holders of that office in American history. Whereas numerous second-in-commands were confined to peripheral or figurehead roles, Cheney held enormous influence during the term of George W Bush, so much so that he was frequently described as the "true president".
Bush objected to that description and stated the connection was more complicated. He pointed out that Cheney was courteous, consistently referring to him in public settings as President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush disputed even descriptions of their association as a collaboration because it suggested that they were equals. Despite these denials, Cheney viewed the easygoing president pliable on a wide array of policy decisions.
The Post-9/11 Era
At the head of a group of neo-cons 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 strike, Bush had been taking part in a gathering at a elementary school in Florida. While Bush headed for a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, commanding the destruction of any non-communicating airplanes heading toward the Capitol building.
Cheney said the strikes changed him, making him become focused on revenge. Along with other neo-conservatives, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a invasion of Afghanistan in an attempt to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the military action of Iraq, although there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Controversial Decisions
He expressed no regrets about the military campaign, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, and not about the waterboarding of individuals apprehended after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was founded on misleading information circulated by Cheney, was the right decision. "It was the correct action to do back then. I had faith at the time and I hold that view presently."
But even at the time, there were contrary opinions at a high level about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the administration's own special envoys to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the position. "I saw, at the very least," he wrote later "clear negligence, carelessness, and irresponsibility: at worst, deception, incompetence, and graft."
Broader Context
Cheney was not entirely to blame for the Iraq military action. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for comparable steps. He had drafted a memorandum outlining circumstances in which American interests might be endangered (including "obtaining vital raw materials, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "America should be postured to take unilateral action when collective action prove impossible," particularly citing defense operations against Iraq.
Bush also had entered the Oval Office vaguely intent on executing what his parent had notably declined to do in 1991; topple Saddam. Subsequent to he had been sacked by the president, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the first meeting of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his plan of reducing America's involvement in the Middle East dispute and mooted military action against Iraq.
Bush carried a private grievance against Saddam, convinced he had been involved in a plot to assassinate his father, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally objected to that one of the biggest establishments in Baghdad had a ground design with a portrait of his parent's countenance that everyone had to tread upon.
Interrogation Methods
Yet it was Cheney who was among the most vehement supporting attacking Iraq, consistently citing information documents that were whether thin or completely deceptive. He endorsed what the Bush government politely called as "enhanced interrogation", the employment of waterboarding and physical pressure.
Answering a Senate report in 2014 that determined that no actionable intelligence had come from the torture, Cheney rejected the conclusions as "loaded with crap". He informed Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to establish protocols and put in place procedures to catch the perpetrators who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it would not recur. That's exactly what they did and they earn a lot of credit."
Public Image
Cheney took pleasure in nicknames assigned to him by detractors such as Darth Vader and the sinister presence, and by the notion that he was a sinister influence manipulating Bush. In the journalist's 2013 book about the duo, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is quoted as saying: "Do I represent the evil genius in the corner that remains unseen come out of his domain? That is a effective way to work, truthfully."
Commercial Ties
Controversy over his commercial relationships followed him through his period as VP. While he had minimal expertise in commerce but strong connections in security, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's biggest petroleum corporations, in 1995 as chairman and chief executive.
In 2000 he became Bush's election partner for the presidency. Controversially, during the military campaign, Halliburton was given US agreements totaling multiple billions.
It greatly increased his wealth. His yearly earnings during his period at the company rose from his previous salary while Pentagon chief to over four million. When he resigned in 2000 he had a package totaling over $20m|twenty