The former US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who passed away at age 84, was considered one of the most influential incumbents of the vice-presidency in American history. Although countless second-in-commands were confined to minor or figurehead positions, Cheney held enormous sway during the presidency of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was commonly referred to as the "true president".
Bush resented this portrayal and said the dynamic was more complicated. He noted that Cheney was deferential, consistently addressing him in public as Mr President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush disputed even descriptions of their partnership as a team because it implied that they were peers. Regardless of these objections, Cheney considered the relaxed president pliable on a broad range of governmental choices.
The Post-9/11 Era
In charge of a group of conservative hawks that featured Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the military intervention of Iraq in 2003 in response to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been taking part in a meeting at a school in Florida. As Bush headed for a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, ordering the destruction of any non-communicating aircraft nearing the US Capitol.
Cheney said the strikes changed him, leading him to become focused on revenge. Along with other neo-cons, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a invasion of Afghanistan in an effort to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the armed intervention of Iraq, though there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein playing a role.
Disputed Policies
He showed no remorse about the invasion, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis perished, and not about the harsh treatment of individuals captured after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was predicated on misleading information repeated by Cheney, was the correct course of action. "It was the right thing to do at that time. I had faith back then and I maintain that stance today."
However even then, there were dissenting voices at a top tier about the poor management of Iraq. One of the government's own representatives to the Middle East, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the post. "I witnessed, as a baseline," he later wrote "true dereliction, carelessness, and unaccountability: at worst, falsehoods, unfitness, and graft."
Broader Context
Cheney was not entirely to blame for the Iraq military action. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for similar measures. He had composed a document setting out scenarios in which US concerns might be endangered (including "access to essential resources, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "America should be positioned to act independently when cooperative measures cannot be arranged," specifically mentioning defense operations against Iraq.
Bush too had arrived in the Oval Office vaguely intent on executing what his parent had famously refused to do in 1991; topple Saddam. Subsequent to he had been fired by the administration, the finance chief Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his plan of reducing America's involvement in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and suggested defense operations against Iraq.
Bush bore a individual resentment against Saddam, thinking he had been behind a conspiracy to kill his father, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He also resented that one of the biggest hotels in Baghdad had a floor mural with a portrait of his predecessor's visage that everyone had to walk over.
Investigation Approaches
But it was Cheney who was one of the most outspoken behind striking Iraq, frequently citing intelligence reports that were either insubstantial or completely inaccurate. He endorsed what the Bush administration indirectly described as "advanced techniques", the use of waterboarding and torture.
Answering a Senate analysis in 2014 that concluded that no useful information had been obtained through the interrogation methods, Cheney dismissed the conclusions as "full of crap". He stated to Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to establish protocols and create procedures to apprehend the individuals who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it was not repeated. That is precisely what they did and they deserve a lot of credit."
External Perception
Cheney enjoyed labels given to him by critics such as Darth Vader and the dark figure, and by the notion that he was a shadow power controlling Bush. In the author's 2013 volume about the duo, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is reported as stating: "Am I the sinister strategist in the corner that operates invisibly come out of his lair? It's a nice way to operate, truthfully."
Corporate Connections
Controversy over his corporate affiliations pursued him through his period as second-in-command. Although he had limited background in business but strong connections in military, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial energy companies, in 1995 as chairman and CEO.
In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's election partner for the executive branch. Controversially, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was awarded US deals valued at multiple billions.
It greatly increased his wealth. His yearly earnings during his tenure at the firm increased from his previous salary when he was military head to $4.4m. When he left in 2000 he had a compensation package valued at in excess of $20m|twenty
