The deceased US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who passed away at the age of 84, was seen as arguably the most powerful occupants of the vice-presidency in US history. Although countless second-in-commands were confined to minor or figurehead functions, Cheney exercised substantial sway during the administration of George W Bush, so much so that he was often described as the "real president".
Bush objected to that description and claimed the dynamic was more nuanced. He observed that Cheney was deferential, consistently referring to him in public settings as the President, while he called him as Dick. Bush challenged even portrayals of their partnership as a partnership because it indicated that they were equals. Regardless of these denials, Cheney found the relaxed president malleable on a wide array of administrative determinations.
The Aftermath of 9/11
In charge of a faction of neo-conservatives that encompassed Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the military intervention of Iraq in 2003 in response to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. During of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been taking part in a meeting at a educational institution in Florida. As Bush traveled to a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney took command, commanding the downing of any unidentified airplanes nearing the Capitol building.
Cheney stated the attacks changed him, making him become intent on revenge. Together with other neo-cons, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a invasion of Afghanistan in an endeavor to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the military action of Iraq, though there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein playing a role.
Debated Decisions
He expressed no regrets about the armed intervention, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis died, or about the harsh treatment of suspects rounded up after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was predicated on inaccurate intelligence echoed by Cheney, was the proper decision. "It represented the proper decision to do at that time. I had faith at the time and I believe it presently."
Yet during that period, there were dissenting voices at a high level about the poor management of Iraq. One of the White House's own special envoys to the Middle East, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the role. "I witnessed, at the very least," he subsequently stated "clear negligence, carelessness, and unaccountability: in the worst case, falsehoods, unfitness, and corruption."
Broader Context
Cheney was not solely accountable for the Iraq invasion. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for comparable steps. He had written a document setting out scenarios in which national priorities might be endangered (encompassing "obtaining vital raw materials, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "the United States should be postured to act independently when cooperative measures cannot be arranged," explicitly referencing defense operations against Iraq.
Bush too had arrived in the presidency vaguely intent on implementing what his predecessor had notably declined to do in 1991; topple Saddam. Following he had been sacked by the White House, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had announced his plan of reducing America's engagement in the Middle East dispute and mooted military action against Iraq.
Bush bore a personal grudge against Saddam, thinking he had been involved in a plot to murder his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore resented that one of the most prominent accommodations in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a likeness of his father's face that each person had to tread upon.
Interrogation Methods
But it was Cheney who was one of the most vehement supporting invading Iraq, repeatedly referencing agency briefings that were either thin or entirely misleading. He backed what the Bush government euphemistically referred to as "enhanced interrogation", the employment of interrogation method and harsh treatment.
Responding to a Senate document in 2014 that found that no actionable intelligence had come from the interrogation methods, Cheney disregarded the report as "full of crap". He informed Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to take steps and create initiatives to catch the bastards who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it would not recur. That's exactly what they did and they deserve a lot of credit."
External Perception
Cheney took pleasure in nicknames assigned to him by critics such as the dark character and the sinister presence, and by the idea that he was a sinister influence controlling Bush. In the journalist's 2013 volume about the duo, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is reported as stating: "Do I represent the malevolent mastermind in the corner that remains unseen emerge from his hole? It's a nice way to work, truthfully."
Commercial Ties
Debate over his corporate affiliations accompanied him through his period as VP. Although he had limited background in commerce but established relationships in military, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's biggest oil and gas corporations, in 1995 as leader and top executive.
In 2000 he was selected as Bush's election partner for the White House. Debatably, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was granted US agreements worth multiple billions.
It made him rich. His yearly compensation during his tenure at the corporation increased from his $258,394 when he was military head to millions. When he resigned in 2000 he had a compensation package valued at in excess of $20m|twenty
