The former US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who passed away at age 84, was considered among the most significant holders of that position in American history. While many second-in-commands were limited to marginal or figurehead roles, Cheney held enormous sway during the presidency of George W Bush, to the point that he was often described as the "true president".
Bush resented that description and claimed the dynamic was more complex. He noted that Cheney was respectful, invariably referring to him in official appearances as President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush disputed even characterisations of their partnership as a team because it implied that they were equals. Regardless of such protestations, Cheney found the laidback president malleable on a whole raft of administrative determinations.
A Post-9/11 Era
In charge of a contingent of neo-conservatives that featured Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in reaction to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. During of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been participating in a session at a educational institution in Florida. As Bush headed for a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, ordering the downing of any unidentified airplanes nearing the US Capitol.
Cheney said the assaults changed him, causing him to be intent on revenge. Together with other conservative figures, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a takeover of Afghanistan in an effort to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the invasion of Iraq, even though there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Disputed Policies
He showed no remorse about the armed intervention, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, and not about the waterboarding of suspects 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 correct course of action. "It proved to be the proper decision to do back then. I had faith then and I maintain that stance today."
However even then, there were contrary opinions at a senior level about the poor management of Iraq. One of the White House's own representatives to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the post. "I witnessed, as a baseline," he wrote later "obvious failure, inaction, and recklessness: at worst, deception, incompetence, and graft."
Additional Factors
Cheney was not completely responsible for the Iraq campaign. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for similar measures. He had drafted a document setting out scenarios in which US concerns might be threatened (encompassing "availability of essential resources, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "the United States should be positioned to act independently when joint efforts cannot be arranged," explicitly mentioning armed actions against Iraq.
Bush additionally had arrived in the White House vaguely intent on implementing what his parent had notably declined to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. Following he had been sacked by the White House, the finance chief Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the first meeting of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had announced his plan of reducing America's participation in the Middle East dispute and suggested military action against Iraq.
Bush held a private grievance against Saddam, believing he had been behind a scheme to murder his father, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He also resented that one of the biggest establishments in Baghdad had a ground design with a portrait of his parent's visage that everyone had to step on.
Interrogation Methods
However it was Cheney who was among the most vociferous behind attacking Iraq, repeatedly referencing agency briefings that were both insubstantial or totally misleading. He endorsed what the Bush government indirectly described as "enhanced interrogation", the use of interrogation method and physical pressure.
Responding to a Senate report in 2014 that determined that no useful information had resulted from the interrogation methods, Cheney disregarded the findings as "full of crap". He stated to Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to implement measures and establish initiatives to capture the individuals who took the lives of 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it was not repeated. That is precisely what they did and they deserve a lot of praise."
Public Persona
Cheney enjoyed monikers given to him by critics such as the Star Wars villain and the dark figure, and by the notion that he was a sinister influence directing Bush. In Peter Baker's 2013 publication about the two, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is cited as commenting: "Is it me who is the sinister strategist in the shadows that operates invisibly emerge from his domain? This represents a advantageous way to work, actually."
Corporate Connections
Controversy over his corporate affiliations followed him during his tenure as VP. Although he had minimal expertise in business but strong connections in security, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's largest energy companies, in 1995 as chair and chief executive.
In 2000 he was selected as Bush's running mate for the White House. Controversially, during the military campaign, Halliburton was awarded US deals totaling billions.
It made him rich. His annual income during his period at the company increased from his previous salary during his time as defence secretary to over four million. When he resigned in 2000 he had a severance arrangement valued at more than $20m|twenty
