The deceased US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who died at the age of 84, was seen as arguably the most influential holders of that office in US history. While many second-in-commands had to settle for minor or symbolic roles, Cheney held huge influence during the presidency of George W Bush, so much so that he was commonly referred to as the "real president".
Bush disliked such a characterisation and said the connection was more nuanced. He observed that Cheney was respectful, invariably referring to him in public settings as President, while he called him as Dick. Bush disputed even portrayals of their relationship as a partnership because it suggested that they were peers. Regardless of these objections, Cheney found the relaxed president pliable on a broad range of administrative determinations.
The Post-9/11 Era
In charge of a contingent of conservative hawks that featured military head Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the military intervention of Iraq in 2003 in reaction to the September 11th attacks on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been taking part in a meeting at a educational institution in Florida. While Bush headed for a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, ordering the shooting down of any unidentified planes nearing the US Capitol.
Cheney stated the assaults changed him, causing him to be determined on retribution. In conjunction with other neo-conservatives, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a occupation of Afghanistan in an attempt to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then pressed fiercely for the armed intervention of Iraq, although there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein playing a role.
Debated Actions
He showed no remorse about the armed intervention, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis died, or about the enhanced interrogation of individuals apprehended after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was based on faulty information circulated by Cheney, was the right course of action. "It was the proper decision to do then. I believed it then and I hold that view now."
But even then, there were opposing views at a senior level about the poor management of Iraq. One of the government's own delegates to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the post. "I saw, as a baseline," he subsequently stated "obvious failure, negligence, and irresponsibility: in the worst case, deception, ineptitude, and dishonesty."
Additional Factors
Cheney was not solely to blame for the Iraq invasion. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for similar measures. He had composed a document detailing scenarios in which American interests might be compromised (encompassing "availability of vital raw materials, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "America should be positioned to take unilateral action when cooperative measures cannot be arranged," specifically mentioning armed actions against Iraq.
Bush additionally had assumed the presidency somewhat determined on executing what his predecessor had specifically avoided to do in 1991; remove Saddam. Following he had been sacked by the president, the finance chief Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had announced his plan of reducing America's participation in the Middle East dispute and suggested defense operations against Iraq.
Bush bore a personal grudge against Saddam, thinking he had been behind 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 most prominent accommodations in Baghdad had a ground design with a likeness of his father's countenance that each person had to walk over.
Interrogation Methods
Yet it was Cheney who was part of the most vehement advocating invading Iraq, repeatedly quoting agency briefings that were both weak or entirely deceptive. He supported what the Bush government euphemistically referred to as "enhanced interrogation", the application of interrogation method and physical pressure.
Responding to a Senate document in 2014 that determined that no useful information had resulted from the harsh techniques, Cheney dismissed the report as "riddled with crap". He told Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to establish protocols and create programmes to capture the perpetrators who took the lives of 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it never happened again. That is precisely what they did and they earn a lot of praise."
Public Persona
Cheney took pleasure in monikers imposed on him by opponents such as the Star Wars villain and The Prince of Darkness, and by the concept that he was a dark force manipulating Bush. In the journalist's 2013 publication about the pair, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is cited as commenting: "Do I represent the malevolent mastermind in the background that nobody ever sees come out of his lair? This represents a nice way to work, actually."
Commercial Ties
Dispute over his business interests followed him during his tenure as VP. Even though he had minimal expertise in commerce but established relationships in security, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's biggest energy companies, in 1995 as chairman and CEO.
In 2000 he became Bush's VP candidate for the executive branch. Debatably, during the military campaign, Halliburton was given US agreements totaling multiple billions.
It significantly boosted his finances. His annual income during his tenure at the corporation increased from his $258,394 while defence secretary to over four million. When he departed in 2000 he had a compensation package totaling more than $20m|twenty
