The late US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who died at age 84, was regarded as one of the most influential occupants of the vice-presidency in the nation's history. Although numerous second-in-commands were confined to peripheral or ceremonial functions, Cheney wielded enormous influence during the administration of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was frequently called as the "true president".
Bush resented that description and stated the dynamic was more complicated. He pointed out that Cheney was deferential, invariably referring to him in official appearances as the President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush challenged even descriptions of their partnership as a collaboration because it implied that they were peers. In spite of these denials, Cheney considered the relaxed president malleable on a broad range of policy decisions.
The Aftermath of 9/11
Leading of a faction of neo-cons that featured military head Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the September 11th attacks on New York and Washington. During of the 9/11 strike, Bush had been attending a meeting at a elementary school in Florida. As Bush traveled to a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, directing the downing of any unresponsive planes nearing the Capitol building.
Cheney claimed the strikes changed him, making him become focused on revenge. Along with other neo-cons, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a takeover of Afghanistan in an endeavor to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then pressed fiercely for the invasion of Iraq, though there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Controversial Actions
He showed no remorse about the armed intervention, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, or about the harsh treatment of detainees captured after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was founded on inaccurate information circulated by Cheney, was the correct path to take. "It proved to be the correct action to do back then. I was convinced at the time and I hold that view presently."
Yet even at the time, there were contrary opinions at a senior level about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the White House's own delegates to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the post. "I observed, as a baseline," he wrote later "obvious failure, carelessness, and recklessness: at worst, deception, unfitness, and graft."
Broader Context
Cheney was not entirely accountable for the Iraq military action. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for such action. He had composed a memorandum setting out circumstances in which US concerns might be endangered (encompassing "access to essential resources, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "America should be postured to operate alone when cooperative measures prove impossible," particularly mentioning military moves against Iraq.
Bush too had entered the Oval Office generally inclined on implementing what his predecessor had notably declined to do in 1991; remove Saddam. Following he had been fired by the president, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill disclosed how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had announced his intention of diminishing America's involvement in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and suggested military action against Iraq.
Bush carried a individual resentment against Saddam, thinking he had been responsible for a scheme to kill his parent, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore resented that one of the most prominent accommodations in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a likeness of his predecessor's visage that everyone had to step on.
Investigation Approaches
Yet it was Cheney who was part of the most outspoken advocating invading Iraq, frequently referencing intelligence reports that were either insubstantial or entirely misleading. He endorsed what the Bush government euphemistically referred to as "enhanced interrogation", the use of interrogation method and physical pressure.
Addressing a Senate report in 2014 that determined that no actionable intelligence had been obtained through the interrogation methods, Cheney rejected the conclusions as "riddled with crap". He stated to Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to implement measures and establish procedures to capture the perpetrators who took the lives of 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it never happened again. That was specifically what they did and they merit a lot of recognition."
External Perception
Cheney took pleasure in labels assigned to him by critics such as the dark character and The Prince of Darkness, and by the concept that he was a dark force directing Bush. In Peter Baker's 2013 book about the pair, 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 remains unseen leave his lair? That is a nice way to function, actually."
Business Interests
Debate over his corporate affiliations followed him during his tenure as second-in-command. Even though he had minimal expertise in business but established relationships in military, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial oil and gas conglomerates, in 1995 as chair and chief executive.
In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's running mate for the presidency. Contentiously, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was granted US contracts totaling multiple billions.
It made him rich. His annual income during his time at the firm rose from his previous salary when he was Pentagon chief to $4.4m. When he resigned in 2000 he had a package valued at more than $20m|twenty
