The late US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who died at age 84, was regarded as arguably the most influential holders of the vice-presidency in American history. While many VPs had to settle for minor or figurehead functions, Cheney wielded substantial sway during the administration of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was often referred to as the "actual president".
Bush disliked this portrayal and stated the connection was more nuanced. He pointed out that Cheney was respectful, consistently calling him in public settings as Mr President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush disputed even descriptions of their partnership as a team because it suggested that they were equals. Despite these denials, Cheney considered the laidback president pliable on a broad range of administrative determinations.
A Post-9/11 Era
In charge of a faction of conservative hawks that included military head Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in response to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 strike, Bush had been taking part in a session at a school in Florida. While Bush headed for a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, ordering the downing of any unidentified airplanes approaching the government building.
Cheney stated the attacks transformed him, causing him to be focused on retaliation. In conjunction with other neo-cons, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a invasion of Afghanistan in an endeavor to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the invasion of Iraq, even though there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein having involvement.
Debated Actions
He expressed no regrets about the invasion, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis died, nor about the enhanced interrogation of suspects captured after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was founded on faulty reports echoed by Cheney, was the right decision. "It represented the proper decision to do at that time. I believed it then and I maintain that stance presently."
But even at the time, there were opposing views at a senior level about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the White House's own representatives to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the position. "I saw, at a minimum," he wrote later "true dereliction, negligence, and unaccountability: potentially, falsehoods, ineptitude, and corruption."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not entirely accountable for the Iraq campaign. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for similar measures. He had drafted a document detailing situations in which national priorities might be endangered (encompassing "availability of crucial commodities, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "America should be postured to act independently when collective action cannot be arranged," particularly referencing military moves against Iraq.
Bush too had entered the White House vaguely intent on executing what his father had famously refused to do in 1991; topple Saddam. After he had been fired by the administration, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill disclosed how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his objective of diminishing America's involvement in the Middle East dispute and proposed military action against Iraq.
Bush bore a private grievance against Saddam, convinced he had been involved in a conspiracy to kill his father, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He also objected to that one of the most prominent accommodations in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a portrait of his predecessor's countenance that each person had to step on.
Investigation Approaches
Yet it was Cheney who was one of the most vociferous behind striking Iraq, repeatedly referencing intelligence reports that were either weak or totally inaccurate. He endorsed what the Bush administration indirectly described as "intensive questioning", the use of simulated drowning and physical pressure.
Addressing a Senate analysis in 2014 that concluded that no actionable intelligence had resulted from the torture, Cheney disregarded the findings as "riddled with crap". He told Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to take steps and create programmes to catch the perpetrators who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it never happened again. That's exactly what they did and they earn a lot of recognition."
External Perception
Cheney reveled in nicknames imposed on him by detractors such as the dark character and the sinister presence, and by the idea 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 quoted as saying: "Am I the malevolent mastermind in the background that nobody ever sees emerge from his domain? That is a effective way to work, truthfully."
Business Interests
Debate over his corporate affiliations followed him throughout his time as second-in-command. While he had limited background in commerce but strong connections in defence, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's biggest oil and gas corporations, in 1995 as chair and CEO.
In 2000 he was selected as Bush's running mate for the executive branch. Debatably, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was given US deals totaling multiple billions.
It made him rich. His annual income during his time at the corporation rose from his previous salary when he was military head to millions. When he left in 2000 he had a package totaling over $20m|twenty
