The former US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who died at the age of 84, was regarded as arguably the most influential incumbents of that position in US history. Although numerous second-in-commands had to settle for marginal or ceremonial functions, Cheney held huge power during the presidency of George W Bush, to the point that he was frequently called as the "real president".
Bush resented that description and stated the relationship was more complicated. He noted that Cheney was respectful, invariably calling him in official appearances as the President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush questioned even portrayals of their partnership as a team because it suggested that they were equals. In spite of such protestations, Cheney considered the relaxed president accommodating on a wide array of administrative determinations.
The Post-9/11 Era
In charge of a contingent of neo-cons that encompassed military head Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the military intervention of Iraq in 2003 in response to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. At the time of the 9/11 assault, Bush had been taking part in a gathering at a school in Florida. Whereas Bush headed for a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, commanding the downing of any unresponsive airplanes nearing the US Capitol.
Cheney stated the strikes changed him, leading him to become determined on revenge. In conjunction with other neo-conservatives, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a occupation of Afghanistan in an attempt to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the armed intervention of Iraq, though there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein playing a role.
Debated Policies
He expressed no regrets about the military campaign, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis perished, nor about the enhanced interrogation of detainees captured after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was founded on misleading reports repeated by Cheney, was the right decision. "It was the correct action to do then. I believed it at the time and I maintain that stance now."
Yet during that period, there were opposing views at a high level about the poor management of Iraq. One of the White House's own representatives to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the post. "I witnessed, at a minimum," he wrote later "true dereliction, carelessness, and unaccountability: potentially, deception, unfitness, and corruption."
Additional Factors
Cheney was not completely accountable for the Iraq military action. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for similar measures. He had drafted a document outlining situations in which American interests might be endangered (featuring "availability of crucial commodities, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "the US should be positioned to operate alone when collective action cannot be arranged," specifically mentioning military moves against Iraq.
Bush too had entered the White House somewhat determined on executing what his father had specifically avoided to do in 1991; topple Saddam. Following he had been sacked by the president, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his plan of diminishing America's engagement in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and suggested armed intervention against Iraq.
Bush bore a individual resentment against Saddam, thinking he had been involved in a scheme to assassinate his father, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore objected to that one of the largest accommodations in Baghdad had a ground design with a likeness of his father's face that all visitors had to step on.
Interrogation Methods
But it was Cheney who was part of the most outspoken advocating attacking Iraq, frequently referencing information documents that were whether thin or entirely deceptive. He backed what the Bush administration politely called as "advanced techniques", the employment of waterboarding and harsh treatment.
Answering a Senate analysis in 2014 that determined that no actionable intelligence had resulted from the interrogation methods, Cheney rejected the findings as "riddled with crap". He informed Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to implement measures and establish initiatives to apprehend the individuals 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 deserve a lot of praise."
External Perception
Cheney reveled in monikers given to him by critics such as Darth Vader and the sinister presence, and by the idea that he was a dark force directing Bush. In the journalist's 2013 publication about the two, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is cited as commenting: "Am I the malevolent mastermind in the background that remains unseen leave his domain? This represents a effective way to operate, truthfully."
Commercial Ties
Debate over his corporate affiliations pursued him during his tenure as second-in-command. Although he had minimal expertise in commerce but good contacts in military, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial oil and gas conglomerates, in 1995 as leader and top executive.
In 2000 he became Bush's running mate for the executive branch. Controversially, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was given US contracts valued at billions.
It significantly boosted his finances. His yearly compensation during his time at the firm grew from his quarter-million dollars during his time as defence secretary to over four million. When he left in 2000 he had a compensation package worth more than $20m|twenty
