The deceased US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who died at age 84, was considered arguably the most significant incumbents of the vice-presidency in American history. While many second-in-commands had to settle for minor or symbolic positions, Cheney exercised enormous power during the administration of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was frequently called as the "actual president".
Bush objected to such a characterisation and stated the relationship was more complicated. He pointed out that Cheney was respectful, invariably calling him in public settings as the President, while he called him as Dick. Bush challenged even portrayals of their association as a team because it indicated that they were peers. In spite of these objections, Cheney found the laidback president accommodating on a whole raft of governmental choices.
A Post-9/11 Era
In charge of a group of neo-cons that featured Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in response to the September 11th attacks on New York and Washington. During of the 9/11 assault, Bush had been participating in a meeting at a school in Florida. As Bush made his way to a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, ordering the downing of any unidentified planes heading toward the Capitol building.
Cheney claimed the attacks changed him, leading him to become determined on revenge. In conjunction with other neo-conservatives, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a invasion of Afghanistan in an endeavor to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the invasion of Iraq, although there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein playing a role.
Debated Policies
He showed no remorse about the military campaign, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis died, nor about the enhanced interrogation of suspects rounded up after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was founded on faulty reports repeated by Cheney, was the proper course of action. "It was the proper decision to do then. I was convinced then and I believe it presently."
Yet during that period, there were opposing views at a high level about the poor management of Iraq. One of the government's own representatives to the Middle East, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the post. "I saw, at a minimum," he wrote later "true dereliction, carelessness, and recklessness: in the worst case, lying, ineptitude, and dishonesty."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not solely responsible for the Iraq invasion. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for comparable steps. He had written a memorandum setting out situations in which national priorities might be compromised (including "obtaining crucial commodities, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "the US should be prepared to act independently when collective action cannot be orchestrated," explicitly mentioning defense operations against Iraq.
Bush too had arrived in the presidency vaguely intent on executing what his father had notably declined to do in 1991; remove Saddam. After he had been sacked by the White House, the finance chief Paul O'Neill disclosed how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his intention of lowering America's engagement in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and mooted defense operations against Iraq.
Bush held a private grievance against Saddam, convinced he had been responsible for a scheme to kill his father, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He also disliked that one of the biggest hotels in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a likeness of his predecessor's visage that all visitors had to walk over.
Investigation Approaches
But it was Cheney who was one of the most outspoken advocating striking Iraq, frequently citing intelligence reports that were whether weak or totally inaccurate. He supported what the Bush government politely called as "intensive questioning", the employment of interrogation method and harsh treatment.
Addressing a Senate analysis in 2014 that found that no valuable data had been obtained through the interrogation methods, Cheney disregarded the conclusions as "full of crap". He told Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to establish protocols and put in place programmes to catch the perpetrators who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it was not repeated. That is precisely what they did and they earn a lot of recognition."
External Perception
Cheney enjoyed nicknames given to him by opponents such as Darth Vader and the dark figure, and by the idea 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 cited as commenting: "Is it me who is the malevolent mastermind in the corner that operates invisibly emerge from his domain? This represents a advantageous way to function, in fact."
Corporate Connections
Controversy over his commercial relationships pursued him throughout his time as VP. Although he had little experience in business but strong connections in military, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's biggest petroleum companies, in 1995 as chairman and top executive.
In 2000 he was selected as Bush's running mate for the White House. Contentiously, during the military campaign, Halliburton was awarded US agreements valued at multiple billions.
It significantly boosted his finances. His yearly earnings during his tenure at the firm increased from his previous salary while military head to millions. When he left in 2000 he had a severance arrangement valued at more than $20m|twenty
