The late US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who died at age 84, was regarded as arguably the most influential occupants of that office in American history. Although countless second-in-commands were confined to marginal or figurehead roles, Cheney exercised enormous power during the term of George W Bush, to the point that he was commonly referred to as the "actual president".
Bush objected to that description and claimed the connection was more complicated. He pointed out that Cheney was respectful, always addressing him in official appearances as the President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush challenged even descriptions of their relationship as a team because it suggested that they were equals. Despite such protestations, Cheney considered the easygoing president accommodating on a whole raft of administrative determinations.
A Post-9/11 Era
At the head of a faction of neo-conservatives that featured defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the invasion 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 participating in a gathering at a elementary school in Florida. As Bush made his way to a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, ordering the shooting down of any unresponsive airplanes approaching the Capitol building.
Cheney claimed the strikes altered his perspective, leading him to become intent on retribution. In conjunction with other neo-cons, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a takeover of Afghanistan in an effort to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the military action of Iraq, even though there was little proof of Saddam Hussein having involvement.
Debated Actions
He voiced no apologies about the invasion, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis perished, and not about the waterboarding of detainees rounded up after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was founded on misleading intelligence repeated by Cheney, was the correct path to take. "It represented the correct action to do at that time. I believed it at the time and I hold that view now."
Yet even at the time, there were contrary opinions at a senior level about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the administration's own delegates to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the role. "I observed, at a minimum," he wrote later "true dereliction, negligence, and unaccountability: in the worst case, lying, unfitness, and dishonesty."
Broader Context
Cheney was not entirely accountable for the Iraq military action. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for similar measures. He had composed a memo detailing situations in which American interests might be endangered (including "obtaining vital raw materials, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "the US should be prepared to act independently when joint efforts cannot be orchestrated," explicitly referencing military moves against Iraq.
Bush additionally had arrived in the White House generally inclined on executing what his predecessor had notably declined to do in 1991; topple Saddam. After he had been dismissed by the White House, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the first meeting of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had announced his plan of lowering America's engagement in the regional tensions and proposed defense operations against Iraq.
Bush bore a private grievance against Saddam, convinced he had been involved in a scheme to assassinate his father, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He also objected to that one of the largest hotels in Baghdad had a ground design with a likeness of his parent's countenance that all visitors had to walk over.
Investigation Approaches
However it was Cheney who was part of the most vociferous behind invading Iraq, consistently citing agency briefings that were both thin or completely deceptive. He backed what the Bush White House euphemistically referred to as "intensive questioning", the application of interrogation method and harsh treatment.
Responding to a Senate document in 2014 that concluded that no useful information had resulted from the harsh techniques, Cheney rejected the findings as "full of crap". He told Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to take steps and put in place procedures to capture the perpetrators who murdered 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 Persona
Cheney took pleasure in nicknames assigned to him by critics such as Darth Vader and the sinister presence, and by the idea that he was a dark force manipulating Bush. In the author's 2013 book about the two, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is reported as stating: "Am I the malevolent mastermind in the background that nobody ever sees emerge from his lair? It's a effective way to operate, in fact."
Commercial Ties
Dispute over his business interests followed him throughout his time as vice-president. Although he had little experience in business but strong connections in defence, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial oil and gas corporations, in 1995 as leader and chief executive.
In 2000 he was selected as Bush's election partner for the presidency. Contentiously, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was granted US agreements valued at multiple billions.
It greatly increased his wealth. His yearly compensation during his tenure at the company increased from his previous salary during his time as defence secretary to $4.4m. When he left in 2000 he had a severance arrangement worth over $20m|twenty
