The late US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who passed away at the age of 84, was considered one of the most powerful occupants of that position in US history. Although many VPs had to settle for peripheral or ceremonial positions, Cheney exercised substantial influence during the presidency of George W Bush, so much so that he was frequently described as the "real president".
Bush objected to this portrayal and said the dynamic was more complicated. He observed that Cheney was respectful, always calling him in public settings as the President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush questioned even portrayals of their partnership as a partnership because it indicated that they were on equal footing. In spite of such protestations, Cheney considered the easygoing president accommodating on a broad range of administrative determinations.
A Period Following the Attacks
Leading of a group of neo-cons that included Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the military intervention of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the September 11th attacks on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 strike, Bush had been participating in a meeting at a educational institution in Florida. Whereas Bush made his way to a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, commanding the destruction of any non-communicating aircraft nearing the Capitol building.
Cheney said the assaults altered his perspective, making him become focused on revenge. Along with other conservative figures, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a takeover of Afghanistan in an endeavor to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the armed intervention of Iraq, although there was little proof of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Disputed Actions
He expressed no regrets about the military campaign, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, and not about the waterboarding of detainees rounded up after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was predicated on faulty intelligence echoed by Cheney, was the right decision. "It was the correct action to do at that time. I believed it then and I believe it today."
Yet even then, there were dissenting voices at a top tier about the botched execution of Iraq. One of the administration's own representatives to the Middle East, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the post. "I witnessed, as a baseline," he wrote later "obvious failure, carelessness, and irresponsibility: potentially, lying, unfitness, and graft."
Additional Factors
Cheney was not entirely accountable for the Iraq military action. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for such action. He had written a memorandum setting out scenarios in which US concerns might be endangered (including "obtaining crucial commodities, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "the United States should be positioned to operate alone when cooperative measures cannot be arranged," explicitly referencing military moves against Iraq.
Bush also had entered the presidency generally inclined on carrying out what his father had famously refused to do in 1991; topple Saddam. After he had been dismissed by the White House, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had announced his plan of reducing America's participation in the regional tensions and proposed armed intervention against Iraq.
Bush carried a private grievance against Saddam, thinking he had been responsible for a scheme to kill his father, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore resented that one of the most prominent establishments in Baghdad had a ground design with a likeness of his predecessor's countenance that all visitors had to tread upon.
Questioning Techniques
But it was Cheney who was one of the most outspoken supporting invading Iraq, repeatedly quoting agency briefings that were whether weak or entirely inaccurate. He endorsed what the Bush administration politely called as "enhanced interrogation", the application of waterboarding and harsh treatment.
Responding to a Senate document in 2014 that concluded that no actionable intelligence had been obtained through the torture, Cheney rejected the report as "loaded with crap". He stated to Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to implement measures and create programmes to catch the perpetrators who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it never happened again. That was specifically what they did and they merit a lot of credit."
Public Persona
Cheney reveled in labels imposed on him by detractors such as Darth Vader and the sinister presence, and by the idea that he was a sinister influence manipulating Bush. In the journalist's 2013 publication about the pair, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is cited as commenting: "Am I the evil genius in the shadows that remains unseen come out of his domain? This represents a effective way to function, in fact."
Business Interests
Controversy over his business interests followed him during his tenure as second-in-command. Even though he had limited background in business but established relationships in defence, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's biggest petroleum companies, in 1995 as leader and top executive.
In 2000 he became Bush's running mate for the executive branch. Contentiously, during the military campaign, Halliburton was given US agreements worth multiple billions.
It greatly increased his wealth. His annual income during his time at the corporation increased from his quarter-million dollars during his time as Pentagon chief to over four million. When he departed in 2000 he had a package totaling over $20m|twenty
