The deceased US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who died at age 84, was regarded as one of the most influential incumbents of the vice-presidency in the nation's history. Whereas many second-in-commands were limited to peripheral or figurehead functions, Cheney exercised huge power during the administration of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was often called as the "real president".
Bush resented such a characterisation and stated the relationship was more nuanced. He observed that Cheney was deferential, consistently referring to him in official appearances as Mr President, while he called him as Dick. Bush disputed even descriptions of their relationship as a collaboration because it implied that they were peers. In spite of such protestations, Cheney considered the laidback president accommodating on a broad range of policy decisions.
A Period Following the Attacks
At the head of a group of neo-conservatives that featured Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 strike, Bush had been taking part in a session at a school in Florida. While Bush headed for a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, ordering the destruction of any unresponsive airplanes heading toward the government building.
Cheney claimed the strikes altered his perspective, causing him to be intent on retribution. In conjunction with other conservative figures, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a takeover of Afghanistan in an effort to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the armed intervention of Iraq, although there was little proof of Saddam Hussein playing a role.
Controversial Actions
He showed no remorse about the armed intervention, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis died, nor about the waterboarding of detainees rounded up after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was based on misleading reports circulated by Cheney, was the right course of action. "It was the correct action to do back then. I was convinced then and I maintain that stance presently."
However even at the time, there were opposing views at a high level about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the administration's own delegates to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the post. "I observed, at a minimum," he later wrote "true dereliction, carelessness, and irresponsibility: potentially, deception, unfitness, and dishonesty."
Additional Factors
Cheney was not solely to blame for the Iraq campaign. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for such action. He had composed a memo detailing situations in which US concerns might be endangered (including "availability of essential resources, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "the United States should be positioned to operate alone when collective action cannot be orchestrated," particularly referencing military moves against Iraq.
Bush additionally had entered the White House vaguely intent on implementing what his predecessor had notably declined to do in 1991; remove Saddam. Subsequent to he had been sacked 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 intention of lowering America's involvement in the Middle East dispute and suggested armed intervention against Iraq.
Bush carried a individual resentment against Saddam, believing he had been responsible for a conspiracy to assassinate his father, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore objected to that one of the largest accommodations in Baghdad had a floor mural with a portrait of his predecessor's visage that all visitors had to step on.
Questioning Techniques
But it was Cheney who was one of the most vociferous behind invading Iraq, consistently referencing intelligence reports that were either weak or totally misleading. He endorsed what the Bush administration euphemistically referred to as "intensive questioning", the use of waterboarding and harsh treatment.
Addressing a Senate document in 2014 that determined that no valuable data had resulted from the interrogation methods, Cheney disregarded the report as "riddled with crap". He told Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to take steps and put in place procedures to apprehend the individuals who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it would not recur. That was specifically what they did and they earn a lot of recognition."
External Perception
Cheney reveled in nicknames assigned to him by detractors such as the dark character and the dark figure, and by the notion that he was a sinister influence manipulating Bush. In Peter Baker's 2013 publication about the duo, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is quoted as saying: "Is it me who is the malevolent mastermind in the corner that operates invisibly come out of his hole? It's a advantageous way to operate, actually."
Corporate Connections
Dispute over his corporate affiliations pursued him through his period as VP. Even though he had limited background in corporate affairs but good contacts in security, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's biggest energy conglomerates, in 1995 as chair and CEO.
In 2000 he was selected as Bush's VP candidate for the White House. Contentiously, during the military campaign, Halliburton was granted US deals valued at multiple billions.
It greatly increased his wealth. His yearly earnings during his period at the company increased from his previous salary while military head to $4.4m. When he resigned in 2000 he had a compensation package totaling more than $20m|twenty
