The late US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who passed away at age 84, was seen as one of the most powerful incumbents of the vice-presidency in the nation's history. Although many second-in-commands were limited to minor or ceremonial positions, Cheney wielded huge power during the term of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was commonly described as the "actual president".
Bush disliked such a characterisation and claimed the connection was more complex. He noted that Cheney was courteous, invariably calling him in public settings as the President, while he called him as Dick. Bush disputed even descriptions of their partnership as a collaboration because it implied that they were on equal footing. Regardless of these objections, Cheney found the relaxed president malleable on a wide array of policy decisions.
A Post-9/11 Era
In charge of a group of conservative hawks that encompassed Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in reaction to the September 11th attacks on New York and Washington. During of the 9/11 assault, Bush had been participating in a meeting at a educational institution in Florida. As Bush traveled to a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, ordering the destruction of any unidentified aircraft approaching the Capitol building.
Cheney stated the attacks changed him, making him become determined on retribution. Together with other neo-conservatives, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a invasion of Afghanistan in an attempt to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the invasion of Iraq, even though there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein having involvement.
Debated Decisions
He expressed no regrets about the military campaign, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis perished, nor about the harsh treatment of individuals apprehended after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was predicated on inaccurate intelligence circulated by Cheney, was the correct course of action. "It proved to be the right thing to do then. I was convinced at the time and I maintain that stance presently."
However even at the time, there were dissenting voices at a high level about the poor management of Iraq. One of the administration's own special envoys to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the role. "I witnessed, as a baseline," he subsequently stated "obvious failure, negligence, and unaccountability: in the worst case, lying, ineptitude, and dishonesty."
Broader Context
Cheney was not entirely responsible for the Iraq military action. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for similar measures. He had drafted a document outlining situations in which US concerns might be compromised (featuring "obtaining vital raw materials, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "the US should be positioned to take unilateral action when collective action prove impossible," particularly citing armed actions against Iraq.
Bush too had entered the White House vaguely intent on executing what his parent had specifically avoided to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. Subsequent to he had been dismissed by the White House, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his plan of diminishing America's participation in the Middle East dispute and suggested armed intervention against Iraq.
Bush held a personal grudge against Saddam, thinking he had been responsible for a scheme to assassinate his father, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore resented that one of the most prominent accommodations in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a portrait of his parent's visage that everyone had to tread upon.
Investigation Approaches
However it was Cheney who was one of the most outspoken behind attacking Iraq, consistently referencing information documents that were either insubstantial or totally misleading. He backed what the Bush government euphemistically referred to as "enhanced interrogation", the employment of simulated drowning and harsh treatment.
Answering a Senate report in 2014 that found that no useful information had come from the torture, Cheney disregarded the findings as "full of crap". He informed Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to implement measures and create initiatives to apprehend the individuals who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it was not repeated. That's exactly what they did and they deserve a lot of praise."
Public Image
Cheney took pleasure in nicknames given to him by detractors such as the dark character and the dark figure, and by the idea that he was a shadow power manipulating Bush. In the journalist's 2013 book about the duo, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is quoted as saying: "Am I the malevolent mastermind in the corner that nobody ever sees come out of his hole? It's a advantageous way to operate, actually."
Business Interests
Controversy over his corporate affiliations followed him through his period as vice-president. Even though he had minimal expertise in corporate affairs but good contacts in security, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial oil and gas conglomerates, in 1995 as leader and chief executive.
In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's VP candidate for the White House. Debatably, during the military campaign, Halliburton was awarded US deals totaling substantial sums.
It significantly boosted his finances. His yearly earnings during his period at the company rose from his previous salary during his time as defence secretary to $4.4m. When he left in 2000 he had a severance arrangement totaling more than $20m|twenty
