The deceased US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who passed away at the age of 84, was considered arguably the most significant occupants of that office in American history. Although many second-in-commands were limited to marginal or ceremonial roles, Cheney exercised huge influence during the presidency of George W Bush, to the point that he was commonly called as the "actual president".
Bush resented that description and said the dynamic was more complex. He observed that Cheney was respectful, always addressing him in public settings as President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush disputed even descriptions of their partnership as a team because it indicated that they were equals. In spite of such protestations, Cheney found the relaxed president malleable on a broad range of policy decisions.
The Aftermath of 9/11
At the head of a faction of neo-conservatives that featured defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the invasion of Iraq in 2003 in reaction to the September 11th attacks on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 strike, Bush had been participating in a gathering at a school in Florida. Whereas Bush made his way to a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney took command, directing the downing of any non-communicating planes nearing the government building.
Cheney stated the strikes transformed him, causing him to be determined on retaliation. In conjunction with other neo-conservatives, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a occupation of Afghanistan in an endeavor to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the armed intervention of Iraq, though there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein playing a role.
Disputed Actions
He showed no remorse about the invasion, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis died, and not about the waterboarding of detainees captured after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was founded on misleading intelligence echoed by Cheney, was the proper path to take. "It proved to be the right thing to do back then. I was convinced at the time and I believe it presently."
But during that period, there were dissenting voices at a top tier about the poor management of Iraq. One of the White House's own representatives to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the post. "I saw, as a baseline," he wrote later "clear negligence, inaction, and unaccountability: in the worst case, deception, unfitness, and corruption."
Additional Factors
Cheney was not entirely responsible for the Iraq military action. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for similar measures. He had drafted a memorandum outlining circumstances in which US concerns might be endangered (featuring "access to vital raw materials, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "the United States should be postured to take unilateral action when collective action cannot be arranged," specifically citing defense operations against Iraq.
Bush additionally had assumed the Oval Office vaguely intent on implementing what his parent had famously refused to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. After he had been dismissed by the president, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the first meeting of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had announced his plan of lowering America's participation in the Middle East dispute and suggested military action against Iraq.
Bush held a personal grudge against Saddam, thinking he had been involved in a plot to murder his parent, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He also disliked that one of the biggest hotels in Baghdad had a ground design with a image of his parent's visage that all visitors had to tread upon.
Investigation Approaches
Yet it was Cheney who was one of the most vociferous advocating attacking Iraq, consistently citing information documents that were whether insubstantial or entirely deceptive. He supported what the Bush government euphemistically referred to as "advanced techniques", the application of interrogation method and harsh treatment.
Addressing a Senate document in 2014 that concluded that no valuable data had resulted from the harsh techniques, Cheney rejected the conclusions as "full of crap". He stated to Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to take steps and put in place procedures to capture the bastards who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it would not recur. That was specifically what they did and they merit a lot of praise."
Public Image
Cheney enjoyed nicknames imposed on him by detractors such as the dark character and the sinister presence, and by the notion that he was a shadow power directing Bush. In the journalist's 2013 publication about the two, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is cited as commenting: "Is it me who is the malevolent mastermind in the shadows that operates invisibly leave his lair? That is a nice way to work, truthfully."
Business Interests
Debate over his commercial relationships pursued him throughout his time as VP. While he had little experience in commerce but strong connections in security, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial energy corporations, in 1995 as chair and chief executive.
In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's VP candidate for the presidency. Contentiously, during the military campaign, Halliburton was given US deals totaling multiple billions.
It made him rich. His yearly earnings during his period at the company increased from his quarter-million dollars when he was military head to $4.4m. When he left in 2000 he had a compensation package worth in excess of $20m|twenty
