The deceased US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who passed away at age 84, was seen as among the most significant holders of that office in US history. While many second-in-commands were confined to minor or symbolic roles, Cheney exercised huge influence during the term of George W Bush, to the point that he was frequently called as the "actual president".
Bush disliked that description and claimed the dynamic was more complicated. He noted that Cheney was courteous, consistently referring to him in public settings as President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush challenged even characterisations of their relationship as a partnership because it suggested that they were equals. Regardless of these objections, Cheney found the relaxed president accommodating on a whole raft of policy decisions.
A Post-9/11 Era
At the head of a contingent of neo-conservatives that included military head Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the invasion of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the September 11th attacks on New York and Washington. At the time of the 9/11 strike, Bush had been taking part in a meeting at a school in Florida. While Bush made his way to a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, commanding the destruction of any non-communicating aircraft heading toward the government building.
Cheney stated the attacks changed him, causing him to be determined on revenge. Together with other neo-cons, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a invasion of Afghanistan in an attempt to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the military action of Iraq, although there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein playing a role.
Controversial Decisions
He expressed no regrets about the armed intervention, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, nor about the waterboarding of suspects captured after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was founded on faulty reports circulated by Cheney, was the correct decision. "It represented the right thing to do then. I believed it then and I maintain that stance presently."
But even then, there were opposing views at a top tier about the botched execution of Iraq. One of the government's own representatives to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the role. "I observed, at a minimum," he later wrote "obvious failure, carelessness, and irresponsibility: in the worst case, deception, ineptitude, and corruption."
Broader Context
Cheney was not solely accountable for the Iraq invasion. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for similar measures. He had composed a document detailing situations in which national priorities might be compromised (including "access to crucial commodities, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "America should be positioned to operate alone when cooperative measures cannot be arranged," explicitly citing armed actions against Iraq.
Bush too had assumed the Oval Office vaguely intent on executing what his father had notably declined to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. After he had been sacked by the administration, the finance chief Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his intention of reducing America's participation in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and suggested defense operations against Iraq.
Bush carried a individual resentment against Saddam, believing he had been behind a plot to assassinate his father, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally resented that one of the most prominent accommodations in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a likeness of his predecessor's face that all visitors had to walk over.
Investigation Approaches
Yet it was Cheney who was one of the most vehement supporting striking Iraq, repeatedly quoting agency briefings that were both weak or entirely deceptive. He supported what the Bush administration euphemistically referred to as "advanced techniques", the application of interrogation method and physical pressure.
Answering a Senate report in 2014 that found that no valuable data had resulted from the interrogation methods, Cheney disregarded the conclusions as "riddled with crap". He stated to Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to take steps and put in place initiatives to catch the bastards who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it would not recur. That's exactly what they did and they earn a lot of praise."
External Perception
Cheney took pleasure in labels given to him by critics such as the Star Wars villain and the dark figure, and by the notion that he was a shadow power directing Bush. In the journalist's 2013 volume about the pair, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is reported as stating: "Am I the evil genius in the corner that nobody ever sees emerge from his hole? This represents a nice way to work, actually."
Business Interests
Controversy over his corporate affiliations accompanied him during his tenure as second-in-command. While he had little experience in commerce but strong connections in defence, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's biggest petroleum conglomerates, in 1995 as chair and top executive.
In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's VP candidate for the executive branch. Contentiously, during the military campaign, Halliburton was given US agreements worth multiple billions.
It significantly boosted his finances. His annual income during his period at the company grew from his quarter-million dollars when he was defence secretary to millions. When he departed in 2000 he had a compensation package valued at over $20m|twenty
