The late US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who died at age 84, was considered arguably the most significant occupants of that position in the nation's history. While many VPs had to settle for peripheral or ceremonial functions, Cheney exercised substantial sway during the administration of George W Bush, so much so that he was frequently described as the "true president".
Bush resented that description and said the dynamic was more nuanced. He observed that Cheney was courteous, consistently addressing him in official appearances as the President, while he called him as Dick. Bush challenged even characterisations of their relationship as a collaboration because it indicated that they were peers. Regardless of these objections, Cheney found the easygoing president accommodating on a whole raft of administrative determinations.
A Aftermath of 9/11
In charge of a group of neo-conservatives that featured Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the military intervention of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. During of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been attending a gathering at a school in Florida. As Bush made his way to a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, ordering the downing of any unresponsive aircraft heading toward the government building.
Cheney claimed the attacks transformed him, causing him to be focused on retribution. In conjunction with other neo-cons, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a invasion of Afghanistan in an endeavor to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the military action of Iraq, even though there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Disputed Decisions
He showed no remorse about the military campaign, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, nor about the waterboarding of detainees rounded up after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was predicated on inaccurate reports circulated by Cheney, was the proper course of action. "It proved to be the right thing to do then. I was convinced at the time and I believe it now."
However during that period, there were contrary opinions at a high level about the botched execution of Iraq. One of the government's own delegates to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the post. "I witnessed, at the very least," he later wrote "obvious failure, inaction, and recklessness: at worst, falsehoods, incompetence, and corruption."
Broader Context
Cheney was not completely accountable for the Iraq invasion. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for comparable steps. He had written a document setting out situations in which US concerns might be compromised (encompassing "access to essential resources, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "the United States should be prepared to operate alone when joint efforts cannot be orchestrated," particularly referencing military moves against Iraq.
Bush also had arrived in the Oval Office somewhat determined on implementing what his predecessor had famously refused to do in 1991; remove Saddam. After he had been fired by the president, the finance chief Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had announced his plan of diminishing America's participation in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and suggested defense operations against Iraq.
Bush carried a private grievance against Saddam, thinking he had been responsible for a conspiracy to murder his father, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He also objected to that one of the biggest establishments in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a likeness of his predecessor's face that everyone had to tread upon.
Interrogation Methods
Yet it was Cheney who was among the most vociferous advocating invading Iraq, consistently quoting intelligence reports that were both thin or totally misleading. He endorsed what the Bush government euphemistically referred to as "intensive questioning", the employment of interrogation method and harsh treatment.
Answering a Senate document in 2014 that found that no useful information had resulted from the interrogation methods, Cheney rejected the report as "riddled with crap". He told Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to implement measures and create initiatives to capture the individuals who took the lives of 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it never happened again. That's exactly what they did and they earn a lot of credit."
External Perception
Cheney enjoyed monikers assigned to him by detractors such as the dark character and the dark figure, and by the concept 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 sinister strategist in the shadows that nobody ever sees emerge from his hole? It's a effective way to operate, actually."
Business Interests
Debate over his business interests accompanied him during his tenure as second-in-command. While he had minimal expertise in commerce but good contacts in security, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's biggest oil and gas conglomerates, in 1995 as leader and chief executive.
In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's election partner for the White House. Contentiously, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was awarded US agreements totaling billions.
It significantly boosted his finances. His annual income during his time at the firm grew from his previous salary when he was military head to millions. When he departed in 2000 he had a compensation package valued at over $20m|twenty
