The late US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who died at the age of 84, was seen as among the most significant incumbents of that office in American history. Although countless second-in-commands were limited to minor or ceremonial positions, Cheney exercised huge power during the presidency of George W Bush, so much so that he was commonly referred to as the "actual president".
Bush resented such a characterisation and said the dynamic was more complex. He observed that Cheney was courteous, always calling him in public settings as Mr President, while he called him as Dick. Bush questioned even characterisations of their partnership as a team because it suggested that they were peers. In spite of these denials, Cheney found the laidback president malleable on a wide array of governmental choices.
A Aftermath of 9/11
Leading of a contingent of neo-cons that featured Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the invasion of Iraq in 2003 in reaction to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. During of the 9/11 strike, Bush had been attending a gathering at a educational institution in Florida. As Bush made his way to a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, commanding the destruction of any non-communicating airplanes nearing the US Capitol.
Cheney stated the assaults changed him, causing him to be focused on revenge. Together with other neo-conservatives, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a occupation of Afghanistan in an endeavor to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the military action of Iraq, although there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Controversial Actions
He expressed no regrets about the invasion, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis perished, or about the harsh treatment of individuals rounded up after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was based on faulty reports echoed by Cheney, was the correct decision. "It proved to be the proper decision to do at that time. I had faith at the time and I maintain that stance today."
Yet during that period, there were dissenting voices at a top tier about the poor management of Iraq. One of the administration's own delegates to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the post. "I saw, as a baseline," he subsequently stated "true dereliction, negligence, and irresponsibility: in the worst case, deception, unfitness, and corruption."
Broader Context
Cheney was not entirely accountable for the Iraq invasion. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for comparable steps. He had composed a memo detailing situations in which national priorities might be threatened (including "availability of essential resources, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "the United States should be postured to act independently when cooperative measures prove impossible," particularly citing armed actions against Iraq.
Bush also had entered the Oval Office vaguely intent on implementing what his predecessor had notably declined to do in 1991; topple Saddam. After he had been sacked by the White House, the finance chief Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his plan of diminishing America's engagement in the Middle East dispute and suggested armed intervention against Iraq.
Bush carried a personal grudge against Saddam, thinking he had been responsible for a scheme to kill his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He also resented that one of the largest accommodations in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a image of his father's countenance that everyone had to step on.
Interrogation Methods
But it was Cheney who was among the most vehement advocating striking Iraq, consistently quoting intelligence reports that were either weak or completely misleading. He backed what the Bush White House politely called as "advanced techniques", the use of interrogation method and physical pressure.
Addressing a Senate analysis in 2014 that found that no valuable data had resulted from the harsh techniques, Cheney dismissed the conclusions as "loaded with crap". He informed Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to take steps and create procedures to capture the individuals who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it would not recur. That's exactly what they did and they deserve a lot of praise."
External Perception
Cheney enjoyed labels given to him by detractors such as Darth Vader and the sinister presence, and by the concept that he was a dark force controlling Bush. In the journalist's 2013 publication about the pair, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is quoted as saying: "Am I the sinister strategist in the corner that remains unseen emerge from his lair? It's a advantageous way to work, in fact."
Corporate Connections
Debate over his business interests followed him during his tenure as VP. Even though he had limited background in commerce but strong connections in security, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's biggest energy companies, in 1995 as chair and top executive.
In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's running mate for the White House. Contentiously, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was granted US contracts valued at multiple billions.
It greatly increased his wealth. His yearly compensation during his time at the corporation grew from his $258,394 when he was Pentagon chief to over four million. When he departed in 2000 he had a package totaling more than $20m|twenty
