The former US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who died at the age of 84, was considered one of the most significant occupants of the vice-presidency in American history. Whereas many second-in-commands had to settle for marginal or ceremonial positions, Cheney exercised huge sway during the presidency of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was frequently described as the "actual president".
Bush objected to such a characterisation and said the dynamic was more nuanced. He observed that Cheney was deferential, always calling him in public settings as President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush challenged even characterisations of their partnership as a collaboration because it implied that they were on equal footing. In spite of these denials, Cheney found the relaxed president malleable on a wide array of governmental choices.
A Aftermath of 9/11
In charge of a faction of neo-cons that included defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. At the time of the 9/11 strike, Bush had been attending a meeting at a educational institution in Florida. As Bush headed for a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney took command, commanding the destruction of any non-communicating airplanes approaching the Capitol building.
Cheney stated the strikes changed him, causing him to be focused on retaliation. Along with other conservative figures, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a invasion of Afghanistan in an effort to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the armed intervention of Iraq, even though there was little proof of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Controversial Actions
He voiced no apologies about the invasion, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, nor about the harsh treatment of suspects apprehended after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was predicated on faulty reports repeated by Cheney, was the correct path to take. "It was the correct action to do then. I had faith at the time and I believe it today."
However even at the time, there were contrary opinions at a top tier about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the White House's own representatives to the Middle East, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the position. "I witnessed, at the very least," he wrote later "true dereliction, inaction, and unaccountability: potentially, lying, unfitness, and graft."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not completely accountable for the Iraq invasion. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for such action. He had drafted a memorandum detailing scenarios in which national priorities might be compromised (encompassing "availability of crucial commodities, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "America should be prepared to act independently when cooperative measures prove impossible," explicitly mentioning armed actions against Iraq.
Bush additionally had entered the presidency vaguely intent on executing what his father had famously refused to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. After he had been sacked 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 announced his objective of lowering America's participation in the Middle East dispute and suggested military action against Iraq.
Bush bore a personal grudge against Saddam, believing he had been responsible for a plot to assassinate his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He also resented that one of the most prominent establishments in Baghdad had a ground design with a portrait of his father's visage that each person had to tread upon.
Investigation Approaches
However it was Cheney who was part of the most vociferous supporting striking Iraq, frequently referencing intelligence reports that were whether thin or entirely misleading. He endorsed what the Bush government indirectly described as "intensive questioning", the use of interrogation method and physical pressure.
Answering a Senate document in 2014 that concluded that no valuable data had resulted from the harsh techniques, Cheney dismissed the findings as "loaded with crap". He told Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to implement measures and create programmes to catch the bastards who took the lives of 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it never happened again. That is precisely what they did and they merit a lot of recognition."
Public Image
Cheney reveled in monikers given to him by detractors such as Darth Vader and the dark figure, and by the notion that he was a sinister influence manipulating Bush. In the journalist's 2013 volume about the duo, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is quoted as saying: "Do I represent the sinister strategist in the background that remains unseen leave his lair? It's a effective way to work, in fact."
Commercial Ties
Debate over his business interests accompanied him throughout his time as VP. While he had minimal expertise in commerce but established relationships in security, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial oil and gas conglomerates, in 1995 as chairman and chief executive.
In 2000 he was selected as Bush's election partner for the executive branch. Debatably, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was granted US contracts worth substantial sums.
It made him rich. His yearly earnings during his tenure at the company increased from his previous salary when he was military head to millions. When he left in 2000 he had a severance arrangement valued at in excess of $20m|twenty
