The late US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who died at the age of 84, was regarded as arguably the most influential incumbents of the vice-presidency in US history. Although many second-in-commands were confined to peripheral or ceremonial roles, Cheney wielded substantial sway during the presidency of George W Bush, to the point that he was often referred to as the "actual president".
Bush disliked such a characterisation and said the relationship was more complicated. He noted that Cheney was respectful, always addressing him in official appearances as the President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush challenged even descriptions of their partnership as a collaboration because it implied that they were on equal footing. Despite these denials, Cheney considered the relaxed president accommodating on a whole raft of governmental choices.
The Post-9/11 Era
In charge of a group of neo-conservatives that included military head Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in response to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. At the time of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been participating in a meeting at a elementary school in Florida. Whereas Bush headed for a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, directing the shooting down of any unresponsive airplanes nearing the government building.
Cheney stated the strikes altered his perspective, making him become intent on revenge. Together with other neo-cons, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a takeover of Afghanistan in an effort to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the armed intervention of Iraq, though there was little proof of Saddam Hussein having involvement.
Disputed Decisions
He expressed no regrets 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 told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was based on misleading information circulated by Cheney, was the proper course of action. "It represented the correct action to do back then. I had faith then and I believe it today."
Yet even then, there were opposing views at a senior level about the botched execution of Iraq. One of the administration's own representatives to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the role. "I observed, as a baseline," he wrote later "true dereliction, inaction, and recklessness: potentially, falsehoods, unfitness, and graft."
Additional Factors
Cheney was not entirely to blame for the Iraq campaign. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for such action. He had composed a memo outlining circumstances in which US concerns might be endangered (including "obtaining vital raw materials, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "the United States should be postured to act independently when collective action cannot be orchestrated," specifically referencing armed actions against Iraq.
Bush also had assumed the Oval Office generally inclined on executing what his parent had specifically avoided to do in 1991; remove Saddam. Subsequent to he had been dismissed by the White House, the finance chief Paul O'Neill disclosed how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his plan of lowering America's engagement in the Middle East dispute and mooted military action against Iraq.
Bush held a individual resentment against Saddam, believing he had been behind a conspiracy to murder his father, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally objected to that one of the biggest establishments in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a likeness of his parent's countenance that each person had to tread upon.
Interrogation Methods
However it was Cheney who was one of the most outspoken supporting striking Iraq, repeatedly citing information documents that were both insubstantial or completely deceptive. He supported what the Bush government euphemistically referred to as "enhanced interrogation", the application of simulated drowning and harsh treatment.
Addressing a Senate analysis in 2014 that concluded that no actionable intelligence had been obtained through the torture, Cheney dismissed the report as "riddled with crap". He told Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to implement measures and create programmes to capture the perpetrators who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it would not recur. That's exactly what they did and they merit a lot of credit."
Public Image
Cheney reveled in labels assigned to him by critics such as the Star Wars villain and the sinister presence, and by the concept that he was a sinister influence controlling Bush. In Peter Baker's 2013 publication about the two, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is quoted as saying: "Am I the evil genius in the corner that operates invisibly emerge from his lair? This represents a nice way to operate, actually."
Commercial Ties
Debate over his business interests followed him throughout his time as second-in-command. Even though he had little experience in commerce but established relationships in defence, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's biggest energy companies, in 1995 as leader and chief executive.
In 2000 he was selected as Bush's election partner for the executive branch. Debatably, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was awarded US contracts valued at multiple billions.
It significantly boosted his finances. His yearly earnings during his time at the company increased from his $258,394 during his time as Pentagon chief to $4.4m. When he departed in 2000 he had a severance arrangement totaling over $20m|twenty
