The deceased US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who died at the age of 84, was considered arguably the most powerful incumbents of that office in US history. While many VPs were limited to marginal or symbolic functions, Cheney exercised enormous influence during the term of George W Bush, to the point that he was often described as the "actual president".
Bush objected to that description and stated the dynamic was more complicated. He observed that Cheney was deferential, invariably referring to him in public as President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush disputed even characterisations of their association as a collaboration because it implied that they were on equal footing. Regardless of these objections, Cheney found the relaxed president malleable on a whole raft of policy decisions.
The Aftermath of 9/11
At the head of a contingent of neo-cons that included defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated 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 meeting at a elementary school in Florida. As Bush headed for a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, commanding the downing of any unresponsive aircraft nearing the US Capitol.
Cheney claimed the attacks altered his perspective, leading him to become determined on retaliation. Together with other neo-conservatives, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a occupation of Afghanistan in an effort to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the armed intervention of Iraq, although there was little proof of Saddam Hussein having involvement.
Disputed Decisions
He showed no remorse about the military campaign, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis died, nor about the waterboarding of detainees apprehended after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was predicated on misleading intelligence repeated by Cheney, was the right decision. "It represented the proper decision to do at that time. I was convinced back then and I believe it today."
But during that period, there were contrary opinions at a top tier about the poor management of Iraq. One of the administration's own special envoys to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the post. "I witnessed, at a minimum," he later wrote "true dereliction, inaction, and recklessness: potentially, deception, ineptitude, and graft."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not entirely to blame for the Iraq military action. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for such action. He had drafted a memo detailing scenarios in which US concerns might be threatened (encompassing "availability of vital raw materials, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "America should be postured to act independently when joint efforts cannot be orchestrated," explicitly citing armed actions against Iraq.
Bush additionally had arrived in the Oval Office generally inclined on implementing what his father had specifically avoided to do in 1991; topple Saddam. Following he had been sacked by the White House, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his plan of lowering America's engagement in the regional tensions and suggested defense operations against Iraq.
Bush carried a individual resentment against Saddam, believing he had been responsible for a plot to assassinate his father, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He also objected to that one of the biggest establishments in Baghdad had a floor mural with a likeness of his predecessor's countenance that each person had to walk over.
Investigation Approaches
But it was Cheney who was one of the most vociferous supporting attacking Iraq, repeatedly referencing intelligence reports that were either insubstantial or totally inaccurate. He endorsed what the Bush administration indirectly described as "enhanced interrogation", the application of waterboarding and physical pressure.
Responding to a Senate report in 2014 that found that no useful information had resulted from the harsh techniques, Cheney disregarded the report as "loaded with crap". He informed Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to implement measures and establish initiatives to capture the bastards who killed 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 praise."
Public Image
Cheney enjoyed monikers assigned to him by critics such as Darth Vader and The Prince of Darkness, and by the idea that he was a shadow power directing Bush. In the journalist's 2013 book about the duo, 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 background that operates invisibly come out of his domain? That is a effective way to work, in fact."
Business Interests
Debate over his commercial relationships followed him through his period as second-in-command. Even though he had little experience in business but strong connections in defence, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial petroleum conglomerates, in 1995 as chairman and CEO.
In 2000 he became Bush's election partner for the presidency. Controversially, during the military campaign, Halliburton was granted US contracts worth multiple billions.
It greatly increased his wealth. His yearly earnings during his period at the firm rose from his quarter-million dollars when he was Pentagon chief to over four million. When he left in 2000 he had a severance arrangement totaling over $20m|twenty
