The former US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who died at age 84, was seen as arguably the most significant incumbents of that office in American history. Although many VPs were limited to minor or symbolic functions, Cheney wielded enormous sway during the term of George W Bush, so much so that he was commonly called as the "real president".
Bush objected to this portrayal and stated the dynamic was more complex. He observed that Cheney was respectful, consistently calling him in official appearances as the President, while he called him as Dick. Bush questioned even characterisations of their relationship as a partnership because it implied that they were peers. Despite these denials, Cheney viewed the laidback president malleable on a whole raft of governmental choices.
A Post-9/11 Era
In charge of a group of conservative hawks that included military head Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the invasion of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. During of the 9/11 strike, Bush had been taking part in a gathering at a educational institution in Florida. Whereas Bush made his way to a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, ordering the downing of any unidentified airplanes heading toward the government building.
Cheney stated the assaults altered his perspective, causing him to be focused on retaliation. Along with other neo-conservatives, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a invasion of Afghanistan in an effort to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then pressed fiercely for the armed intervention of Iraq, even though there was little proof of Saddam Hussein playing a role.
Debated Decisions
He showed no remorse about the invasion, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, and not about the waterboarding of individuals apprehended after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was based on misleading reports repeated by Cheney, was the right course of action. "It proved to be the right thing to do back then. I believed it at the time and I believe it presently."
However even then, there were opposing views 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, as a baseline," he subsequently stated "obvious failure, inaction, and unaccountability: at worst, deception, unfitness, and graft."
Broader Context
Cheney was not solely responsible for the Iraq campaign. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for similar measures. He had drafted a document setting out situations in which US concerns might be threatened (including "obtaining essential resources, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "the US should be prepared to take unilateral action when joint efforts cannot be orchestrated," particularly mentioning military moves against Iraq.
Bush also had entered the Oval Office vaguely intent on carrying out what his predecessor had famously refused to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. Subsequent to he had been dismissed by the president, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill disclosed how, at the first meeting of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had announced his plan of reducing America's participation in the regional tensions and mooted defense operations against Iraq.
Bush bore a private grievance against Saddam, convinced he had been involved in a conspiracy to murder his parent, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He also objected to that one of the largest accommodations in Baghdad had a ground design with a portrait of his father's visage that each person had to walk over.
Investigation Approaches
However it was Cheney who was one of the most vociferous behind invading Iraq, repeatedly quoting intelligence reports that were either weak or totally inaccurate. He endorsed what the Bush government politely called as "intensive questioning", the use of simulated drowning and physical pressure.
Responding to a Senate report in 2014 that determined that no useful information had resulted from the harsh techniques, Cheney rejected the findings as "riddled with crap". He told Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to take steps and create programmes to apprehend the individuals who took the lives of 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it would not recur. That was specifically what they did and they deserve a lot of credit."
Public Image
Cheney enjoyed monikers assigned to him by opponents such as Darth Vader and the dark figure, and by the idea that he was a shadow power directing Bush. In Peter Baker'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 sinister strategist in the background that nobody ever sees come out of his domain? It's a nice way to work, truthfully."
Business Interests
Dispute over his commercial relationships accompanied him throughout his time as vice-president. While he had little experience in commerce but good contacts in military, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial energy conglomerates, in 1995 as chairman and CEO.
In 2000 he was selected as Bush's election partner for the presidency. Contentiously, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was granted US deals totaling substantial sums.
It greatly increased his wealth. His yearly compensation during his time at the corporation grew from his previous salary while military head to $4.4m. When he resigned in 2000 he had a package totaling in excess of $20m|twenty
