The former US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who passed away at age 84, was considered among the most powerful incumbents of that position in the nation's history. Although countless VPs had to settle for minor or symbolic roles, Cheney held substantial influence during the presidency of George W Bush, to the point that he was often called as the "real president".
Bush disliked such a characterisation and said the connection was more complicated. He observed that Cheney was deferential, consistently calling him in public settings as the President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush challenged even characterisations of their association as a collaboration because it suggested that they were on equal footing. Despite such protestations, Cheney considered the relaxed president malleable on a broad range of policy decisions.
A Period Following the Attacks
At the head of a group of neo-cons that encompassed Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in reaction to the September 11th attacks on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 assault, Bush had been participating in a session at a school in Florida. Whereas Bush traveled to a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney took command, directing the shooting down of any non-communicating aircraft approaching the Capitol building.
Cheney claimed the strikes changed him, leading him to become determined on retaliation. In conjunction with other neo-cons, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a occupation of Afghanistan in an endeavor to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the military action of Iraq, even though there was little proof of Saddam Hussein having involvement.
Disputed Decisions
He showed no remorse about the military campaign, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis died, or about the enhanced interrogation of individuals apprehended after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was based on inaccurate reports repeated by Cheney, was the right course of action. "It represented the proper decision to do then. I was convinced then and I hold that view presently."
Yet even then, there were dissenting voices at a senior level about the poor management of Iraq. One of the government's own delegates to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the post. "I observed, as a baseline," he wrote later "obvious failure, inaction, and unaccountability: at worst, lying, unfitness, and dishonesty."
Additional Factors
Cheney was not solely accountable for the Iraq invasion. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for similar measures. He had drafted a document detailing scenarios in which national priorities might be compromised (featuring "availability of essential resources, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "the US should be positioned to act independently when cooperative measures cannot be orchestrated," specifically citing armed actions against Iraq.
Bush too had assumed the presidency generally inclined on carrying out what his parent had notably declined to do in 1991; topple Saddam. Following he had been sacked by the president, the finance chief Paul O'Neill disclosed how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had announced his objective of diminishing America's involvement in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and proposed armed intervention against Iraq.
Bush carried a private grievance against Saddam, thinking he had been involved in a scheme to assassinate his parent, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore resented that one of the largest accommodations in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a image of his parent's face that each person had to tread upon.
Investigation Approaches
But it was Cheney who was among the most vociferous supporting invading Iraq, consistently referencing agency briefings that were whether weak or completely misleading. He backed what the Bush White House politely called as "enhanced interrogation", the application of waterboarding and torture.
Addressing a Senate analysis in 2014 that concluded that no useful information had been obtained through the interrogation methods, Cheney dismissed the conclusions as "loaded with crap". He stated to Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to implement measures and create programmes to catch the bastards who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it never happened again. That is precisely what they did and they earn a lot of recognition."
External Perception
Cheney took pleasure in monikers assigned to him by critics such as Darth Vader and the sinister presence, and by the idea that he was a shadow power manipulating Bush. In Peter Baker's 2013 book about the two, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is cited as commenting: "Am I the evil genius in the background that nobody ever sees come out of his lair? This represents a effective way to function, actually."
Business Interests
Dispute over his corporate affiliations accompanied him through his period as second-in-command. Although he had little experience in business but good contacts in security, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's largest petroleum companies, in 1995 as leader and CEO.
In 2000 he became Bush's election partner for the White House. Contentiously, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was granted US contracts totaling multiple billions.
It significantly boosted his finances. His annual income during his tenure at the firm increased from his previous salary during his time as military head to millions. When he left in 2000 he had a severance arrangement totaling in excess of $20m|twenty
