The deceased US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who died at age 84, was regarded as among the most influential occupants of that office in the nation's history. While many second-in-commands were limited to minor or figurehead functions, Cheney exercised substantial sway during the presidency of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was often described as the "actual president".
Bush disliked that description and said the dynamic was more complex. He pointed out that Cheney was deferential, always calling him in public as the President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush disputed even characterisations of their relationship as a partnership because it implied that they were equals. Regardless of such protestations, Cheney viewed the relaxed president malleable on a whole raft of governmental choices.
The Post-9/11 Era
At the head of a group of neo-cons that featured defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in response to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. During of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been attending a gathering at a educational institution in Florida. While Bush headed for a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, commanding the shooting down of any unresponsive aircraft approaching the government building.
Cheney said the assaults changed him, leading him to become focused on revenge. In conjunction with other conservative figures, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a takeover of Afghanistan in an endeavor to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then pressed fiercely for the invasion of Iraq, although there was little proof of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Debated Policies
He showed no remorse about the invasion, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, and not about the waterboarding of suspects captured after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was predicated on misleading information circulated by Cheney, was the correct path to take. "It was the proper decision to do back then. I had faith at the time and I maintain that stance today."
But even at the time, there were opposing views at a high level about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the White House's own representatives to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the post. "I witnessed, at a minimum," he later wrote "true dereliction, inaction, and unaccountability: in the worst case, lying, ineptitude, and dishonesty."
Additional Factors
Cheney was not entirely accountable for the Iraq military action. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for such action. He had composed a memo detailing circumstances in which national priorities might be compromised (featuring "availability of essential resources, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "the US should be postured to operate alone when joint efforts cannot be orchestrated," specifically citing defense operations against Iraq.
Bush also had assumed the Oval Office somewhat determined on carrying out what his predecessor had specifically avoided to do in 1991; topple Saddam. Subsequent to he had been dismissed by the president, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill disclosed how, at the first meeting of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his objective of lowering America's participation in the regional tensions and proposed armed intervention against Iraq.
Bush held a personal grudge against Saddam, thinking he had been behind 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 hotels in Baghdad had a floor mural with a image of his father's countenance that each person had to tread upon.
Investigation Approaches
But it was Cheney who was one of the most vehement supporting striking Iraq, consistently citing information documents that were both insubstantial or totally inaccurate. He supported what the Bush government indirectly described as "advanced techniques", the application of waterboarding and torture.
Addressing a Senate document in 2014 that determined that no useful information had resulted from the interrogation methods, Cheney rejected the conclusions as "full of crap". He informed Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to establish protocols and establish procedures to catch the perpetrators who took the lives of 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it never happened again. That's exactly what they did and they merit a lot of praise."
External Perception
Cheney took pleasure in labels assigned to him by critics such as Darth Vader and the sinister presence, and by the idea that he was a sinister influence controlling Bush. In the journalist's 2013 publication about the pair, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is quoted as saying: "Do I represent the evil genius in the corner that remains unseen emerge from his domain? That is a nice way to operate, in fact."
Commercial Ties
Debate over his commercial relationships followed him during his tenure as VP. While he had little experience in business but established relationships 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 chairman and chief executive.
In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's running mate for the presidency. Controversially, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was granted US deals totaling substantial sums.
It significantly boosted his finances. His yearly earnings during his period at the firm grew from his quarter-million dollars while Pentagon chief to millions. When he resigned in 2000 he had a severance arrangement valued at in excess of $20m|twenty
