The deceased US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who died at age 84, was regarded as arguably the most influential incumbents of that position in US history. Although numerous second-in-commands were limited to minor or symbolic positions, Cheney wielded enormous power during the administration of George W Bush, to the point that he was frequently described as the "actual president".
Bush objected to this portrayal and stated the relationship was more complex. He pointed out that Cheney was deferential, always referring to him in public as Mr President, while he called him as Dick. Bush disputed even characterisations of their relationship as a collaboration because it suggested that they were equals. Regardless of these objections, Cheney considered the relaxed president pliable on a wide array of administrative determinations.
The Post-9/11 Era
In charge of a faction of neo-cons that featured military head Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the invasion of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. During of the 9/11 strike, Bush had been attending a session at a educational institution in Florida. As Bush traveled to a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, directing the downing of any non-communicating airplanes heading toward the US Capitol.
Cheney said the strikes changed him, making him become intent on retaliation. Along with other neo-conservatives, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a occupation of Afghanistan in an attempt to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the military action of Iraq, though there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein playing a role.
Controversial Policies
He expressed no regrets about the armed intervention, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis perished, nor about the waterboarding of individuals rounded up after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was predicated on inaccurate reports circulated by Cheney, was the correct course of action. "It proved to be the proper decision to do then. I believed it back then and I maintain that stance today."
Yet even at the time, there were dissenting voices at a high level about the poor management of Iraq. One of the administration's own special envoys to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the position. "I saw, at a minimum," he later wrote "clear negligence, carelessness, and irresponsibility: at worst, falsehoods, unfitness, and graft."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not solely accountable for the Iraq military action. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for such action. He had drafted a document detailing scenarios in which national priorities might be compromised (featuring "access to vital raw materials, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "the US should be postured to take unilateral action when joint efforts cannot be orchestrated," explicitly citing defense operations against Iraq.
Bush too had assumed the presidency generally inclined on implementing what his predecessor had famously refused to do in 1991; topple Saddam. Following he had been sacked by the president, the finance chief Paul O'Neill disclosed how, at the first meeting of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had announced his plan of reducing America's involvement in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and mooted military action against Iraq.
Bush held a personal grudge against Saddam, convinced he had been behind a scheme to murder his father, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally objected to that one of the most prominent hotels in Baghdad had a ground design with a image of his predecessor's visage that everyone had to walk over.
Interrogation Methods
Yet it was Cheney who was among the most vehement advocating striking Iraq, repeatedly referencing intelligence reports that were either thin or totally inaccurate. He backed what the Bush administration politely called as "advanced techniques", the use of interrogation method and physical pressure.
Responding to a Senate analysis in 2014 that concluded that no actionable intelligence had been obtained through the torture, Cheney disregarded the findings as "loaded with crap". He stated to Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to implement measures and create procedures to capture the individuals who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it would not recur. That was specifically what they did and they earn a lot of credit."
Public Persona
Cheney enjoyed labels imposed on him by critics such as the Star Wars villain and the dark figure, and by the idea that he was a shadow power directing Bush. In Peter Baker's 2013 publication about the duo, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is cited as commenting: "Am I the evil genius in the corner that operates invisibly emerge from his domain? It's a effective way to work, actually."
Business Interests
Controversy over his commercial relationships pursued him through his period as vice-president. While he had minimal expertise in commerce but strong connections in security, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial energy corporations, in 1995 as chair and chief executive.
In 2000 he became Bush's election partner for the White House. Controversially, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was awarded US agreements totaling multiple billions.
It greatly increased his wealth. His yearly earnings during his tenure at the company increased from his quarter-million dollars during his time as military head to millions. When he resigned in 2000 he had a severance arrangement worth more than $20m|twenty
