The deceased US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who died at age 84, was regarded as arguably the most powerful occupants of the vice-presidency in American history. Whereas many second-in-commands had to settle for marginal or symbolic functions, Cheney wielded substantial influence during the term of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was frequently described as the "true president".
Bush objected to this portrayal and claimed the dynamic was more complex. He observed that Cheney was respectful, consistently calling him in public as Mr President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush disputed even portrayals of their partnership as a team because it suggested that they were equals. Despite these denials, Cheney found the easygoing president pliable on a wide array of governmental choices.
A Period Following the Attacks
In charge of a contingent of neo-cons that encompassed military head Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in reaction to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. At the time of the 9/11 strike, Bush had been taking part in a session at a elementary school in Florida. While Bush headed for a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney took command, commanding the shooting down of any unresponsive airplanes heading toward the Capitol building.
Cheney said the strikes changed him, causing him to be intent on retribution. Along with other neo-cons, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a takeover of Afghanistan in an endeavor to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the invasion of Iraq, although there was little proof of Saddam Hussein playing a role.
Debated Policies
He voiced no apologies about the military campaign, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, and not about the harsh treatment of individuals apprehended after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was based on faulty information circulated by Cheney, was the correct path to take. "It proved to be the correct action to do at that time. I believed it at the time and I hold that view now."
Yet even then, there were opposing views at a top tier about the botched execution of Iraq. One of the administration's own delegates to the Middle East, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the role. "I saw, at the very least," he wrote later "true dereliction, negligence, and recklessness: in the worst case, deception, ineptitude, and graft."
Additional Factors
Cheney was not solely accountable for the Iraq military action. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for comparable steps. He had drafted a memorandum detailing scenarios in which national priorities might be compromised (encompassing "access to essential resources, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "the United States should be postured to act independently when joint efforts prove impossible," particularly mentioning armed actions against Iraq.
Bush also had entered the Oval Office vaguely intent on implementing what his predecessor had famously refused to do in 1991; remove Saddam. Subsequent to he had been fired by the administration, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill disclosed how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had announced his intention of lowering America's engagement in the Middle East dispute and mooted armed intervention against Iraq.
Bush carried a private grievance against Saddam, convinced he had been responsible for a conspiracy to assassinate his father, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore objected to that one of the largest establishments in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a image of his father's visage that everyone had to step on.
Investigation Approaches
But it was Cheney who was one of the most vociferous advocating attacking Iraq, consistently quoting information documents that were whether thin or completely inaccurate. He supported what the Bush administration indirectly described as "advanced techniques", the use of interrogation method and physical pressure.
Responding to a Senate report in 2014 that concluded that no valuable data had come from the harsh techniques, Cheney dismissed the findings as "full of crap". He informed Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to establish protocols and establish programmes to apprehend the bastards who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it would not recur. That was specifically what they did and they merit a lot of praise."
Public Persona
Cheney enjoyed monikers given to him by detractors such as Darth Vader and the dark figure, and by the notion that he was a shadow power controlling Bush. In Peter Baker's 2013 volume about the pair, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is cited as commenting: "Is it me who is the sinister strategist in the shadows that nobody ever sees leave his domain? This represents a advantageous way to operate, actually."
Business Interests
Debate over his commercial relationships pursued him during his tenure as second-in-command. Even though he had limited background in business but good contacts in security, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial oil and gas companies, in 1995 as chair and chief executive.
In 2000 he was selected as Bush's election partner for the White House. Controversially, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was granted US deals totaling substantial sums.
It greatly increased his wealth. His yearly compensation during his period at the firm grew from his quarter-million dollars while Pentagon chief to millions. When he left in 2000 he had a severance arrangement valued at over $20m|twenty
