The late US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who died at age 84, was seen as arguably the most powerful occupants of that position in American history. Whereas many VPs were confined to minor or symbolic positions, Cheney wielded huge power during the administration of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was commonly referred to as the "real president".
Bush objected to that description and stated the relationship was more nuanced. He observed that Cheney was courteous, consistently calling him in public settings as the President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush challenged even portrayals of their relationship as a collaboration because it indicated that they were peers. Regardless of these denials, Cheney found the laidback president pliable on a whole raft of governmental choices.
The Post-9/11 Era
Leading of a faction of neo-conservatives that encompassed defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the invasion of Iraq in 2003 in reaction to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. During of the 9/11 assault, Bush had been participating in a meeting at a school in Florida. Whereas Bush made his way to a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, directing the shooting down of any unidentified aircraft approaching the US Capitol.
Cheney claimed the attacks changed him, making him become focused on retaliation. Together with other neo-conservatives, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a takeover of Afghanistan in an effort to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the armed intervention of Iraq, although there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein having involvement.
Debated Decisions
He expressed no regrets about the invasion, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis died, nor about the waterboarding of detainees apprehended after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was based on faulty information echoed by Cheney, was the right path to take. "It proved to be the correct action to do at that time. I believed it at the time and I believe it now."
Yet during that period, there were contrary opinions at a high level about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the administration's own delegates to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the role. "I witnessed, at a minimum," he wrote later "true dereliction, carelessness, and unaccountability: at worst, falsehoods, incompetence, and dishonesty."
Additional Factors
Cheney was not entirely responsible for the Iraq military action. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for comparable steps. He had written a document outlining circumstances in which US concerns might be threatened (encompassing "availability of crucial commodities, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "America should be postured to act independently when cooperative measures cannot be orchestrated," particularly referencing armed actions against Iraq.
Bush too had arrived in the White House vaguely intent on implementing what his predecessor had famously refused to do in 1991; topple Saddam. Subsequent to he had been dismissed by the administration, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the first meeting of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his plan of diminishing America's participation in the regional tensions and mooted defense operations against Iraq.
Bush carried a personal grudge against Saddam, believing he had been involved in a plot to murder his parent, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore disliked that one of the most prominent hotels in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a likeness of his predecessor's countenance that all visitors had to tread upon.
Investigation Approaches
But it was Cheney who was one of the most outspoken behind invading Iraq, repeatedly citing information documents that were either weak or totally inaccurate. He endorsed what the Bush government indirectly described as "enhanced interrogation", the use of interrogation method and harsh treatment.
Responding to a Senate document in 2014 that determined that no actionable intelligence had resulted from the harsh techniques, Cheney rejected the conclusions as "loaded with crap". He told Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to take steps and create programmes to catch the individuals who took the lives of 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it was not repeated. That's exactly what they did and they merit a lot of credit."
Public Persona
Cheney took pleasure in labels assigned to him by critics such as the Star Wars villain and the dark figure, and by the idea that he was a sinister influence manipulating Bush. In the journalist's 2013 book about the pair, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is reported as stating: "Am I the malevolent mastermind in the background that operates invisibly leave his hole? That is a nice way to function, actually."
Business Interests
Dispute over his business interests followed him during his tenure as second-in-command. Even though he had little experience in corporate affairs but strong connections in defence, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's biggest energy companies, in 1995 as chairman and top executive.
In 2000 he was selected as Bush's VP candidate for the executive branch. Debatably, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was given US contracts worth billions.
It significantly boosted his finances. His yearly earnings during his tenure at the firm increased from his previous salary while Pentagon chief to $4.4m. When he departed in 2000 he had a severance arrangement valued at more than $20m|twenty
