The late US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who died at the age of 84, was seen as one of the most powerful holders of that office in the nation's history. Although numerous second-in-commands were confined to peripheral or figurehead roles, Cheney wielded enormous sway during the term of George W Bush, so much so that he was often referred to as the "actual president".
Bush resented such a characterisation and stated the dynamic was more nuanced. He noted that Cheney was deferential, consistently addressing him in public 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 viewed the laidback president malleable on a wide array of governmental choices.
A Post-9/11 Era
Leading of a faction of neo-cons that featured Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the military intervention of Iraq in 2003 in response to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 strike, Bush had been participating in a meeting at a educational institution in Florida. Whereas Bush traveled to a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, directing the destruction of any non-communicating aircraft approaching the Capitol building.
Cheney stated the strikes transformed him, causing him to be intent on retaliation. In conjunction with other neo-conservatives, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a occupation of Afghanistan in an attempt to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the military action of Iraq, although there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Controversial Decisions
He showed no remorse about the armed intervention, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, and not about the harsh treatment of individuals rounded up after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was founded on faulty reports repeated by Cheney, was the proper decision. "It was the proper decision to do back then. I had faith at the time and I maintain that stance today."
However even at the time, there were opposing views at a high level about the poor management of Iraq. One of the administration's own representatives to the Middle East, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the role. "I observed, as a baseline," he wrote later "clear negligence, negligence, and irresponsibility: at worst, lying, incompetence, and dishonesty."
Additional Factors
Cheney was not completely responsible for the Iraq invasion. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for such action. He had written a document outlining scenarios in which US concerns might be endangered (encompassing "obtaining vital raw materials, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "the United States should be positioned to operate alone when collective action prove impossible," particularly mentioning armed actions against Iraq.
Bush also had arrived in the White House somewhat determined on carrying out what his parent had famously refused to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. After he had been fired by the administration, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the first meeting of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had announced his objective of reducing America's involvement in the Middle East dispute and suggested military action against Iraq.
Bush held a private grievance against Saddam, convinced he had been responsible for a scheme to murder his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally objected to that one of the largest accommodations in Baghdad had a ground design with a likeness of his parent's countenance that each person had to step on.
Interrogation Methods
However it was Cheney who was one of the most vehement behind invading Iraq, consistently quoting information documents that were whether weak or completely misleading. He endorsed what the Bush administration politely called as "enhanced interrogation", the employment of interrogation method and physical pressure.
Answering a Senate document in 2014 that concluded that no useful information had come from the interrogation methods, Cheney dismissed the conclusions as "riddled with crap". He told Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to take steps and put in place procedures to catch the perpetrators who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it would not recur. That is precisely what they did and they earn a lot of recognition."
Public Image
Cheney enjoyed monikers assigned to him by critics such as the dark character and the sinister presence, and by the concept that he was a shadow power manipulating Bush. In Peter Baker's 2013 publication about the two, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is reported as stating: "Am I the sinister strategist in the shadows that nobody ever sees come out of his hole? It's a nice way to function, truthfully."
Commercial Ties
Dispute over his commercial relationships accompanied him through his period as vice-president. Although he had minimal expertise in commerce but established relationships in defence, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's biggest oil and gas companies, in 1995 as chair and CEO.
In 2000 he became Bush's election partner for the executive branch. Debatably, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was granted US agreements valued at substantial sums.
It made him rich. His yearly compensation during his tenure at the corporation rose from his previous salary while military head to $4.4m. When he departed in 2000 he had a compensation package worth in excess of $20m|twenty
