The deceased US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who died at the age of 84, was considered among the most influential occupants of the vice-presidency in the nation's history. Whereas many VPs were limited to peripheral or figurehead roles, Cheney held substantial sway during the term of George W Bush, so much so that he was commonly called as the "true president".
Bush objected to such a characterisation and stated the relationship was more complicated. He observed that Cheney was deferential, consistently referring to him in public settings as the President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush disputed even characterisations of their association as a collaboration because it indicated that they were peers. Despite these denials, Cheney found the easygoing president pliable on a whole raft of administrative determinations.
The Period Following the Attacks
At the head of a contingent of conservative hawks that encompassed defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the invasion of Iraq in 2003 in reaction to the September 11th attacks on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been attending a gathering at a educational institution in Florida. As Bush traveled to a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, commanding the shooting down of any unresponsive planes approaching the government building.
Cheney claimed the assaults altered his perspective, leading him to become intent on retribution. Along with other conservative figures, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a takeover of Afghanistan in an endeavor to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then pressed fiercely for the armed intervention of Iraq, even though there was little proof of Saddam Hussein having involvement.
Controversial Policies
He showed no remorse 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 informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was founded on faulty intelligence echoed by Cheney, was the right path to take. "It proved to be the correct action to do at that time. I had faith back then and I maintain that stance now."
Yet even then, there were opposing views at a top tier about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the administration's own special envoys to the Middle East, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the role. "I witnessed, at the very least," he wrote later "clear negligence, carelessness, and recklessness: potentially, lying, incompetence, and graft."
Broader Context
Cheney was not solely accountable for the Iraq invasion. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for similar measures. He had written a document detailing scenarios in which American interests might be endangered (featuring "availability of essential resources, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "the United States should be prepared to operate alone when collective action cannot be orchestrated," specifically referencing defense operations against Iraq.
Bush additionally had assumed the White House generally inclined on carrying out what his father had notably declined to do in 1991; topple Saddam. After he had been dismissed by the president, the finance chief Paul O'Neill disclosed how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had announced his plan of lowering America's participation in the Middle East dispute and suggested armed intervention against Iraq.
Bush held a personal grudge against Saddam, convinced he had been involved in a conspiracy to kill his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally resented that one of the largest establishments in Baghdad had a floor mural with a image of his parent's face that everyone had to tread upon.
Questioning Techniques
However it was Cheney who was one of the most vehement behind striking Iraq, frequently referencing agency briefings that were either weak or entirely misleading. He endorsed what the Bush White House politely called as "advanced techniques", the application of interrogation method and harsh treatment.
Answering a Senate analysis in 2014 that determined that no useful information had resulted from the torture, Cheney dismissed the conclusions as "loaded with crap". He told Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to implement measures and create initiatives to catch the individuals who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it would not recur. That's exactly what they did and they earn a lot of praise."
External Perception
Cheney enjoyed nicknames given to him by detractors such as the dark character and the dark figure, and by the notion that he was a sinister influence directing Bush. In the author's 2013 volume about the duo, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is reported as stating: "Is it me who is the sinister strategist in the shadows that nobody ever sees come out of his hole? That is a nice way to function, in fact."
Business Interests
Controversy over his commercial relationships followed him through his period as second-in-command. Although he had little experience in corporate affairs but good contacts in military, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's largest energy conglomerates, in 1995 as leader and top executive.
In 2000 he was selected as Bush's election partner for the presidency. Controversially, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was granted US agreements worth billions.
It greatly increased his wealth. His yearly earnings during his time at the corporation rose from his previous salary while defence secretary to $4.4m. When he left in 2000 he had a severance arrangement valued at more than $20m|twenty
