The late US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who passed away at age 84, was regarded as among the most influential occupants of that office in US history. While countless second-in-commands had to settle for marginal or symbolic positions, Cheney wielded huge influence during the term of George W Bush, to the point that he was commonly referred to as the "actual president".
Bush resented that description and claimed the dynamic was more complicated. He observed that Cheney was deferential, invariably referring to him in public as the President, while he called him as Dick. Bush challenged even characterisations of their relationship as a collaboration because it suggested that they were on equal footing. In spite of these objections, Cheney considered the easygoing president pliable on a wide array of governmental choices.
A Post-9/11 Era
At the head of a group of neo-conservatives that encompassed Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the military intervention of Iraq in 2003 in reaction to the September 11th attacks on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been taking part in a session at a elementary school in Florida. Whereas Bush made his way to a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, commanding the downing of any unidentified aircraft heading toward the Capitol building.
Cheney said the strikes transformed him, making him become intent on retribution. Together with other conservative figures, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a invasion of Afghanistan in an effort to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the armed intervention of Iraq, even though there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Controversial Policies
He expressed no regrets about the armed intervention, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis died, and not about the harsh treatment of detainees captured after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was predicated on inaccurate intelligence echoed by Cheney, was the right course of action. "It represented the right thing to do then. I was convinced at the time and I hold that view now."
Yet even then, there were contrary opinions at a top tier about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the administration's own representatives to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the post. "I saw, at the very least," he wrote later "clear negligence, carelessness, and recklessness: in the worst case, lying, ineptitude, and graft."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not solely to blame for the Iraq invasion. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for such action. He had written a memo setting out circumstances in which US concerns might be compromised (featuring "access to essential resources, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "the United States should be prepared to operate alone when collective action cannot be orchestrated," particularly referencing military moves against Iraq.
Bush also had assumed the Oval Office generally inclined on implementing what his father had notably declined to do in 1991; topple Saddam. Subsequent to he had been dismissed by the administration, the finance chief Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his objective of lowering America's participation in the regional tensions and suggested defense operations against Iraq.
Bush held a personal grudge against Saddam, convinced he had been responsible for a scheme to murder his father, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He also objected to that one of the most prominent accommodations in Baghdad had a floor mural with a image of his parent's face that all visitors had to walk over.
Interrogation Methods
But it was Cheney who was among the most vociferous advocating striking Iraq, repeatedly referencing intelligence reports that were either weak or totally deceptive. He endorsed what the Bush White House politely called as "intensive questioning", the application of interrogation method and harsh treatment.
Responding to a Senate document in 2014 that determined that no useful information had been obtained through the torture, Cheney dismissed the conclusions as "loaded with crap". He told Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to implement measures and put in place programmes to capture the individuals who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it was not repeated. That was specifically what they did and they deserve a lot of praise."
Public Persona
Cheney took pleasure in nicknames imposed on him by critics such as Darth Vader and the dark figure, and by the concept that he was a dark force controlling Bush. In the journalist's 2013 book about the duo, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is reported as stating: "Is it me who is the sinister strategist in the corner that nobody ever sees emerge from his domain? It's a effective way to function, in fact."
Commercial Ties
Dispute over his commercial relationships accompanied him throughout his time as second-in-command. Although he had minimal expertise in commerce but established relationships in security, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's biggest petroleum corporations, in 1995 as chair and CEO.
In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's VP candidate for the executive branch. Contentiously, during the military campaign, Halliburton was awarded US contracts worth substantial sums.
It significantly boosted his finances. His yearly earnings during his time at the firm increased from his previous salary during his time as military head to $4.4m. When he departed in 2000 he had a package totaling more than $20m|twenty
