The deceased US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who died at the age of 84, was seen as among the most powerful incumbents of that office in American history. Although countless second-in-commands had to settle for marginal or symbolic positions, Cheney exercised substantial sway during the administration of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was commonly called as the "actual president".
Bush disliked such a characterisation and claimed the dynamic was more complex. He noted that Cheney was respectful, always referring to him in official appearances as President, while he called him as Dick. Bush disputed even characterisations of their association as a team because it suggested that they were on equal footing. Despite such protestations, Cheney viewed the relaxed president accommodating on a whole raft of governmental choices.
The Period Following the Attacks
Leading of a contingent of neo-conservatives that featured defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the invasion of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. At the time of the 9/11 assault, Bush had been attending a session at a educational institution in Florida. Whereas Bush headed for a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, ordering the downing of any unresponsive aircraft approaching the US Capitol.
Cheney claimed the strikes transformed him, making him become determined on revenge. In conjunction with other neo-cons, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a occupation of Afghanistan in an attempt to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the military action of Iraq, even though 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 perished, and not about the waterboarding of detainees apprehended after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was founded on faulty information circulated by Cheney, was the right decision. "It proved to be the right thing to do at that time. I was convinced then and I maintain that stance presently."
But during that period, there were dissenting voices at a senior level about the poor management of Iraq. One of the government's own delegates to the Middle East, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the post. "I saw, as a baseline," he later wrote "true dereliction, carelessness, and recklessness: at worst, falsehoods, unfitness, and graft."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not completely to blame for the Iraq invasion. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for comparable steps. He had drafted a memorandum outlining scenarios in which US concerns might be endangered (encompassing "obtaining vital raw materials, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "the US should be positioned to operate alone when collective action prove impossible," specifically referencing armed actions against Iraq.
Bush too had arrived in the Oval Office vaguely intent on carrying out what his father had notably declined to do in 1991; topple Saddam. Following he had been dismissed by the administration, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the first meeting of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had announced his plan of lowering America's engagement in the Middle East dispute and suggested defense operations against Iraq.
Bush bore a private grievance against Saddam, believing he had been behind a plot to assassinate his parent, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally resented that one of the biggest accommodations in Baghdad had a floor mural with a image of his parent's face that everyone had to tread upon.
Investigation Approaches
However it was Cheney who was part of the most outspoken behind invading Iraq, consistently quoting agency briefings that were whether weak or completely inaccurate. He supported what the Bush government indirectly described as "intensive questioning", the employment of waterboarding and physical pressure.
Responding to a Senate analysis in 2014 that found that no valuable data had resulted from the torture, Cheney rejected the conclusions as "loaded with crap". He told Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to take steps and establish initiatives to catch the individuals who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it never happened again. That is precisely what they did and they earn a lot of credit."
Public Persona
Cheney reveled in monikers given to him by opponents such as Darth Vader and the dark figure, and by the notion that he was a sinister influence directing Bush. In Peter Baker's 2013 publication about the pair, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is reported as stating: "Is it me who is the evil genius in the background that operates invisibly emerge from his hole? It's a nice way to function, in fact."
Commercial Ties
Dispute over his business interests accompanied him through his period as second-in-command. Although he had limited background in business but good contacts in defence, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's largest oil and gas companies, in 1995 as chair and CEO.
In 2000 he became Bush's VP candidate for the executive branch. Controversially, during the military campaign, Halliburton was given US deals totaling billions.
It significantly boosted his finances. His annual income during his time at the company rose from his previous salary during his time as Pentagon chief to over four million. When he resigned in 2000 he had a compensation package totaling over $20m|twenty
