The deceased US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who died at the age of 84, was seen as among the most powerful holders of that position in American history. While many second-in-commands were limited to marginal or figurehead roles, Cheney wielded huge sway during the term of George W Bush, so much so that he was often referred to as the "actual president".
Bush resented that description and stated the dynamic was more complex. He observed that Cheney was respectful, consistently referring to him in public settings as Mr President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush challenged even characterisations of their relationship as a collaboration because it indicated that they were equals. Despite such protestations, Cheney found the laidback president malleable on a broad range of administrative determinations.
A Post-9/11 Era
At the head of a contingent of neo-cons that encompassed Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in reaction to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 strike, Bush had been attending a session at a elementary school in Florida. Whereas Bush headed for a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, ordering the downing of any non-communicating aircraft nearing the government building.
Cheney said the assaults changed him, causing him to be focused on retaliation. Along with other neo-cons, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a invasion of Afghanistan in an effort to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then pressed fiercely for the armed intervention of Iraq, although there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein playing a role.
Disputed Actions
He voiced no apologies about the armed intervention, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis perished, or about the harsh treatment of detainees apprehended after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was based on misleading information circulated by Cheney, was the proper path to take. "It was the right thing to do back then. I was convinced back then and I maintain that stance presently."
However even at the time, there were opposing views at a high level about the botched execution of Iraq. One of the White House's own representatives to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the post. "I saw, at a minimum," he subsequently stated "clear negligence, negligence, and recklessness: potentially, falsehoods, ineptitude, and graft."
Additional Factors
Cheney was not entirely responsible for the Iraq invasion. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for such action. He had drafted a memo setting out circumstances in which US concerns might be compromised (encompassing "obtaining crucial commodities, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "the US should be positioned to act independently when joint efforts prove impossible," specifically mentioning military moves against Iraq.
Bush also had arrived in the presidency generally inclined on implementing what his parent had famously refused to do in 1991; remove Saddam. Following he had been sacked by the president, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his objective of diminishing America's involvement in the regional tensions and proposed defense operations against Iraq.
Bush carried a private grievance against Saddam, convinced he had been involved in a plot to kill his parent, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally objected to that one of the most prominent establishments in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a portrait of his father's visage that everyone had to step on.
Investigation Approaches
Yet it was Cheney who was part of the most vociferous advocating attacking Iraq, repeatedly quoting agency briefings that were whether thin or entirely inaccurate. He backed what the Bush government politely called as "advanced techniques", the application of waterboarding and torture.
Responding to a Senate document in 2014 that concluded that no actionable intelligence had come from the torture, Cheney disregarded the report as "loaded with crap". He told Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to establish protocols and create procedures to capture the individuals who took the lives of 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it was not repeated. That was specifically what they did and they earn a lot of recognition."
Public Image
Cheney enjoyed monikers imposed on him by detractors such as Darth Vader and the sinister presence, and by the concept 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: "Is it me who is the evil genius in the background that operates invisibly emerge from his hole? That is a nice way to function, actually."
Corporate Connections
Controversy over his business interests pursued him through his period as VP. While he had little experience in corporate affairs but strong connections in military, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's biggest energy conglomerates, in 1995 as leader and chief executive.
In 2000 he became Bush's VP candidate for the White House. Contentiously, during the military campaign, Halliburton was granted US deals totaling substantial sums.
It made him rich. His yearly compensation during his tenure at the company rose from his previous salary while defence secretary to $4.4m. When he resigned in 2000 he had a package worth in excess of $20m|twenty
