The deceased US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who died at age 84, was considered among the most powerful holders of that position in US history. While numerous vice-presidents were limited to minor or symbolic functions, Cheney exercised enormous sway during the term of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was frequently called as the "true president".
Bush objected to such a characterisation and stated the dynamic was more complicated. He observed that Cheney was courteous, always calling him in public as the President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush questioned even characterisations of their association as a collaboration because it implied that they were equals. Regardless of these denials, Cheney viewed the easygoing president accommodating on a broad range of policy decisions.
A Post-9/11 Era
In charge of a group of conservative hawks that included military head Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in reaction to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. During of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been participating in a gathering at a educational institution in Florida. While Bush traveled to a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, commanding the downing of any unidentified airplanes approaching the Capitol building.
Cheney said the strikes transformed him, causing him to be focused on retribution. Along with other neo-conservatives, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a occupation of Afghanistan in an attempt to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the invasion of Iraq, although there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein playing a role.
Controversial Decisions
He showed no remorse about the military campaign, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis died, and not about the waterboarding of detainees captured after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was founded on faulty information echoed by Cheney, was the right decision. "It represented the correct action to do at that time. I had faith at the time and I hold that view presently."
However even then, there were contrary opinions at a high level about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the administration's own delegates to the Middle East, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the post. "I observed, at a minimum," he wrote later "obvious failure, inaction, and recklessness: potentially, falsehoods, ineptitude, and graft."
Additional Factors
Cheney was not solely responsible for the Iraq military action. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for similar measures. He had drafted a document detailing scenarios in which American interests might be endangered (featuring "obtaining crucial commodities, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "the United States should be postured to act independently when joint efforts cannot be arranged," specifically referencing armed actions against Iraq.
Bush too had arrived in the presidency somewhat determined on carrying out what his father had notably declined to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. After he had been sacked by the administration, the finance chief Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his plan of reducing America's involvement in the regional tensions and mooted defense operations against Iraq.
Bush carried a individual resentment against Saddam, convinced he had been behind a scheme to kill his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore disliked that one of the most prominent hotels in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a image of his father's countenance that everyone had to tread upon.
Interrogation Methods
Yet it was Cheney who was part of the most vociferous behind attacking Iraq, repeatedly citing information documents that were either insubstantial or entirely inaccurate. He endorsed what the Bush government politely called as "enhanced interrogation", the employment of simulated drowning and harsh treatment.
Responding to a Senate document in 2014 that found that no useful information had come from the harsh techniques, Cheney disregarded the conclusions as "riddled with crap". He informed Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to implement measures and establish procedures to capture the perpetrators who took the lives of 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it was not repeated. That's exactly what they did and they merit a lot of credit."
Public Image
Cheney took pleasure in labels imposed on him by detractors such as the Star Wars villain and the dark figure, and by the concept that he was a sinister influence manipulating Bush. In the journalist's 2013 volume about the duo, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is quoted as saying: "Am I the malevolent mastermind in the shadows that operates invisibly leave his hole? That is a effective way to operate, actually."
Commercial Ties
Debate over his commercial relationships followed him during his tenure as second-in-command. Although he had minimal expertise in business but strong connections in defence, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's biggest petroleum companies, in 1995 as leader and chief executive.
In 2000 he was selected as Bush's running mate for the presidency. Contentiously, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was granted US deals valued at multiple billions.
It made him rich. His yearly compensation during his tenure at the company rose from his $258,394 when he was Pentagon chief to $4.4m. When he resigned in 2000 he had a package totaling more than $20m|twenty
