The former US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who died at age 84, was regarded as among the most powerful incumbents of the vice-presidency in American history. Although countless second-in-commands were confined to peripheral or symbolic roles, Cheney exercised substantial power during the term of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was often referred to as the "real president".
Bush resented such a characterisation and claimed the connection was more complicated. He pointed out that Cheney was deferential, always addressing him in public settings as President, while he called him as Dick. Bush questioned even portrayals of their partnership as a collaboration because it indicated that they were on equal footing. Regardless of such protestations, Cheney found the laidback president malleable on a wide array of administrative determinations.
A Post-9/11 Era
In charge of a faction of neo-conservatives that included Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the invasion of Iraq in 2003 in response to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. At the time of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been attending a session at a school in Florida. Whereas Bush headed for a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, ordering the downing of any non-communicating aircraft heading toward the government building.
Cheney claimed the assaults changed him, leading him to become focused on retribution. In conjunction with other neo-cons, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a takeover of Afghanistan in an endeavor to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the military action of Iraq, though there was little proof of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Controversial Policies
He expressed no regrets about the military campaign, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis perished, or about the waterboarding of suspects apprehended after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was founded on faulty information echoed by Cheney, was the right path to take. "It represented the correct action to do back then. I believed it at the time and I hold that view today."
However even then, there were dissenting voices at a high level about the botched execution of Iraq. One of the White House's own delegates to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the role. "I observed, at the very least," he later wrote "clear negligence, carelessness, and recklessness: potentially, deception, ineptitude, and graft."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not completely accountable for the Iraq military action. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for comparable steps. He had drafted a memo setting out scenarios in which US concerns might be compromised (encompassing "availability of vital raw materials, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "America should be prepared to act independently when cooperative measures cannot be orchestrated," specifically citing military moves against Iraq.
Bush too had entered the presidency generally inclined on carrying out what his predecessor had notably declined to do in 1991; remove Saddam. Following he had been fired by the president, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill disclosed how, at the first meeting of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his plan of lowering America's engagement in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and suggested military action against Iraq.
Bush bore a individual resentment against Saddam, believing he had been responsible for a conspiracy to murder his father, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally objected to that one of the most prominent establishments in Baghdad had a floor mural with a likeness of his predecessor's countenance that all visitors had to step on.
Investigation Approaches
Yet it was Cheney who was among the most vehement supporting attacking Iraq, repeatedly referencing intelligence reports that were both insubstantial or completely inaccurate. He endorsed what the Bush White House politely called as "advanced techniques", the employment of waterboarding and harsh treatment.
Answering a Senate analysis in 2014 that found that no useful information had been obtained through the harsh techniques, Cheney disregarded the conclusions as "full of crap". He stated to Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to establish protocols and create programmes to apprehend the bastards who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it never happened again. That is precisely what they did and they merit a lot of recognition."
Public Persona
Cheney enjoyed monikers given to him by opponents such as Darth Vader and The Prince of Darkness, and by the idea that he was a sinister influence manipulating Bush. In the journalist's 2013 volume about the two, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is cited as commenting: "Am I the sinister strategist in the shadows that operates invisibly come out of his lair? This represents a advantageous way to operate, actually."
Corporate Connections
Debate over his commercial relationships pursued him throughout his time as vice-president. Even though he had limited background in business but strong connections in security, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's largest petroleum conglomerates, in 1995 as chair and top executive.
In 2000 he was selected as Bush's election partner for the presidency. Contentiously, during the military campaign, Halliburton was awarded US contracts valued at multiple billions.
It made him rich. His annual income during his time at the company rose from his $258,394 when he was Pentagon chief to millions. When he resigned in 2000 he had a compensation package worth over $20m|twenty
