The late US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who passed away at the age of 84, was considered arguably the most significant holders of that position in US history. While countless vice-presidents were confined to minor or ceremonial positions, Cheney exercised substantial sway during the administration of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was commonly described as the "actual president".
Bush objected to such a characterisation and stated the dynamic was more nuanced. He pointed out that Cheney was respectful, invariably addressing him in public as the President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush challenged even portrayals of their association as a team because it implied that they were peers. In spite of these denials, Cheney viewed the relaxed president pliable on a whole raft of administrative determinations.
The Period Following the Attacks
At the head of a faction of conservative hawks that included military head Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the September 11th attacks on New York and Washington. At the time of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been participating in a session at a school in Florida. While Bush headed for a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, ordering the shooting down of any unresponsive airplanes heading toward the Capitol building.
Cheney said the assaults changed him, causing him to be intent on retribution. Along with other neo-conservatives, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a invasion of Afghanistan in an endeavor to apprehend 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.
Disputed Actions
He showed no remorse about the military campaign, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis died, and not about the waterboarding of suspects apprehended after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was founded on misleading reports repeated by Cheney, was the proper path to take. "It proved to be the right thing to do back then. I was convinced at the time and I maintain that stance today."
But during that period, there were opposing views at a high level about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the White House's own delegates to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the post. "I saw, at a minimum," he wrote later "obvious failure, negligence, and recklessness: potentially, lying, ineptitude, and corruption."
Broader Context
Cheney was not entirely responsible for the Iraq military action. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for similar measures. He had composed a memorandum setting out situations in which American interests might be threatened (featuring "obtaining vital raw materials, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "the United States should be postured to operate alone when collective action cannot be orchestrated," explicitly referencing defense operations against Iraq.
Bush also had arrived in the Oval Office somewhat determined on carrying out what his predecessor had notably declined to do in 1991; remove Saddam. Following he had been fired by the White House, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had announced his objective of reducing America's engagement in the regional tensions and mooted armed intervention against Iraq.
Bush carried a individual resentment against Saddam, believing he had been involved in a scheme to kill his father, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He also resented that one of the most prominent establishments in Baghdad had a ground design with a likeness of his predecessor's visage that everyone had to walk over.
Investigation Approaches
However it was Cheney who was part of the most outspoken behind striking Iraq, consistently quoting intelligence reports that were both insubstantial or entirely deceptive. He supported what the Bush administration politely called as "intensive questioning", the application of waterboarding and harsh treatment.
Answering a Senate report in 2014 that concluded that no valuable data had resulted from the interrogation methods, Cheney disregarded the findings as "riddled with crap". He informed Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to implement measures and establish procedures to catch the individuals who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it never happened again. That was specifically what they did and they deserve a lot of credit."
Public Image
Cheney took pleasure in monikers given 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 author's 2013 volume about the two, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is reported as stating: "Do I represent the malevolent mastermind in the background that operates invisibly come out of his domain? This represents a advantageous way to work, truthfully."
Commercial Ties
Debate over his commercial relationships pursued him during his tenure as VP. Even though he had minimal expertise in business but strong connections in defence, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's biggest oil and gas corporations, in 1995 as leader and top executive.
In 2000 he became Bush's election partner for the executive branch. Controversially, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was awarded US agreements totaling substantial sums.
It made him rich. His annual income during his time at the firm rose from his previous salary when he was Pentagon chief to over four million. When he left in 2000 he had a package totaling more than $20m|twenty
