The deceased US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who died at the age of 84, was seen as one of the most significant incumbents of the vice-presidency in US history. Although countless second-in-commands had to settle for peripheral or ceremonial roles, Cheney wielded enormous sway during the term of George W Bush, so much so that he was commonly called as the "real president".
Bush resented this portrayal and said the relationship was more nuanced. He noted that Cheney was respectful, always calling him in public as the President, while he called him as Dick. Bush questioned even portrayals of their association as a team because it suggested that they were peers. In spite of such protestations, Cheney viewed the easygoing president malleable on a whole raft of administrative determinations.
The Period Following the Attacks
At the head of a contingent of neo-conservatives that included defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the invasion of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been attending a session at a educational institution in Florida. As Bush headed for a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, commanding the downing of any unidentified airplanes nearing the Capitol building.
Cheney claimed the attacks transformed him, leading him to become focused on retaliation. In conjunction with other neo-conservatives, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a invasion of Afghanistan in an endeavor to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the military action of Iraq, although there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein having involvement.
Disputed Actions
He expressed no regrets about the invasion, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis perished, or about the harsh treatment of suspects apprehended after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was founded on misleading information echoed by Cheney, was the right path to take. "It was the right thing to do then. I believed it back then and I hold that view now."
Yet even then, there were contrary opinions at a senior level about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the government's own representatives to the Middle East, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the post. "I witnessed, at a minimum," he wrote later "clear negligence, carelessness, and unaccountability: potentially, lying, unfitness, and corruption."
Broader Context
Cheney was not solely to blame for the Iraq campaign. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for such action. He had written a memo outlining circumstances in which US concerns might be endangered (featuring "availability of essential resources, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "the US should be postured to act independently when joint efforts cannot be arranged," explicitly referencing military moves against Iraq.
Bush also had assumed the presidency generally inclined on carrying out what his father had famously refused to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. Subsequent to he had been fired by the president, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill disclosed how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his intention of reducing America's participation in the Middle East dispute and mooted military action against Iraq.
Bush held a individual resentment against Saddam, convinced he had been behind a scheme to assassinate his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He also disliked that one of the biggest establishments in Baghdad had a ground design with a likeness of his parent's countenance that all visitors had to step on.
Investigation Approaches
However it was Cheney who was part of the most vehement supporting invading Iraq, frequently referencing intelligence reports that were whether weak or totally misleading. He backed what the Bush government indirectly described as "enhanced interrogation", the application of simulated drowning and physical pressure.
Responding to a Senate analysis in 2014 that determined that no actionable intelligence had come from the torture, Cheney rejected the findings as "riddled with crap". He stated to Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to implement measures and establish initiatives to capture the bastards who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it never happened again. That was specifically what they did and they merit a lot of credit."
Public Persona
Cheney took pleasure in monikers assigned to him by detractors such as Darth Vader and the sinister presence, and by the notion that he was a dark force directing Bush. In the author's 2013 book about the two, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is cited as commenting: "Is it me who is the evil genius in the background that nobody ever sees emerge from his hole? That is a effective way to operate, truthfully."
Business Interests
Debate over his corporate affiliations pursued him during his tenure as second-in-command. Although he had little experience in corporate affairs but strong connections in military, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's largest petroleum companies, in 1995 as chair and chief executive.
In 2000 he became Bush's running mate for the White House. Debatably, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was awarded US contracts worth substantial sums.
It greatly increased his wealth. His yearly earnings during his period at the firm increased from his $258,394 during his time as Pentagon chief to $4.4m. When he resigned in 2000 he had a severance arrangement valued at over $20m|twenty
