The deceased US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who passed away at age 84, was considered arguably the most significant holders of that office in the nation's history. Whereas countless second-in-commands had to settle for marginal or ceremonial positions, Cheney held huge sway during the term of George W Bush, so much so that he was frequently referred to as the "true president".
Bush objected to that description and stated the dynamic was more complex. He pointed out that Cheney was deferential, consistently referring to him in public 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 equals. Despite these objections, Cheney viewed the relaxed president accommodating on a broad range of administrative determinations.
A Post-9/11 Era
Leading of a faction of conservative hawks that featured military head Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in response to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 assault, Bush had been participating in a meeting at a school in Florida. As Bush traveled to a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, directing the destruction of any non-communicating planes heading toward the US Capitol.
Cheney said the assaults altered his perspective, leading him to become focused on retaliation. Together with other neo-cons, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a occupation of Afghanistan in an attempt to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the invasion of Iraq, though there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein playing a role.
Controversial Decisions
He showed no remorse about the armed intervention, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis died, or about the enhanced interrogation of individuals rounded up after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was predicated on inaccurate reports circulated by Cheney, was the correct path to take. "It proved to be the correct action to do at that time. I had faith at the time and I hold that view today."
However even at the time, there were opposing views at a top tier about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the government's own delegates to the Middle East, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the role. "I saw, at the very least," he later wrote "clear negligence, negligence, and unaccountability: in the worst case, lying, unfitness, and graft."
Additional Factors
Cheney was not solely responsible for the Iraq campaign. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for such action. He had written a memorandum setting out situations in which US concerns might be compromised (featuring "access to vital raw materials, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "America should be prepared to act independently when joint efforts cannot be orchestrated," explicitly referencing defense operations against Iraq.
Bush also had entered the White House somewhat determined on implementing what his predecessor had famously refused to do in 1991; remove Saddam. Following he had been sacked by the president, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the first meeting of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his intention of lowering America's involvement in the regional tensions and proposed defense operations against Iraq.
Bush bore a personal grudge against Saddam, thinking he had been involved in a conspiracy to assassinate his parent, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore resented that one of the largest accommodations in Baghdad had a floor mural with a image of his parent's countenance that everyone had to walk over.
Investigation Approaches
Yet it was Cheney who was among the most vehement behind striking Iraq, consistently referencing intelligence reports that were whether insubstantial or completely inaccurate. He supported what the Bush White House indirectly described as "enhanced interrogation", the application of simulated drowning and harsh treatment.
Answering a Senate document in 2014 that concluded that no useful information had come from the interrogation methods, Cheney dismissed the findings as "full of crap". He stated to Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to implement measures and establish programmes to capture the bastards who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it was not repeated. That was specifically what they did and they deserve a lot of praise."
Public Persona
Cheney enjoyed monikers given to him by opponents such as the dark character and the dark figure, and by the concept that he was a sinister influence directing Bush. In Peter Baker's 2013 publication about the duo, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is cited as commenting: "Do I represent the evil genius in the shadows that operates invisibly emerge from his hole? This represents a effective way to function, actually."
Commercial Ties
Debate over his business interests pursued him throughout his time as second-in-command. Although he had minimal expertise in business but established relationships in military, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's largest energy conglomerates, in 1995 as leader and top executive.
In 2000 he was selected as Bush's VP candidate for the executive branch. Debatably, during the military campaign, Halliburton was granted US contracts valued at billions.
It made him rich. His yearly compensation during his tenure at the corporation rose from his quarter-million dollars while military head to millions. When he left in 2000 he had a compensation package totaling more than $20m|twenty
