The deceased US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who has died at age 84, was considered one of the most significant occupants of that office in American history. Although numerous second-in-commands were confined to peripheral or symbolic positions, Cheney held substantial influence during the term of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was often called as the "real president".
Bush disliked that description and said the relationship was more complicated. He noted that Cheney was deferential, consistently referring to him in official appearances as President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush disputed even characterisations of their relationship as a team because it implied that they were on equal footing. In spite of such protestations, Cheney considered the laidback president pliable on a broad range of administrative determinations.
A Post-9/11 Era
Leading of a faction of neo-cons that featured defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the invasion of Iraq in 2003 in reaction to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 strike, Bush had been attending a session at a educational institution in Florida. As Bush headed for a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney took command, directing the destruction of any non-communicating aircraft heading toward the Capitol building.
Cheney said the attacks altered his perspective, causing him to be intent on revenge. Along with other neo-cons, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a takeover of Afghanistan in an attempt to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the invasion of Iraq, even though there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein having involvement.
Debated Policies
He showed no remorse about the military campaign, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, nor about the waterboarding of suspects apprehended after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was predicated on misleading intelligence echoed by Cheney, was the proper course of action. "It was the correct action to do then. I believed it then and I believe it now."
However during that period, there were opposing views at a high level about the poor management of Iraq. One of the administration's own delegates to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the role. "I saw, at the very least," he later wrote "clear negligence, inaction, and recklessness: potentially, falsehoods, ineptitude, and dishonesty."
Additional Factors
Cheney was not entirely accountable for the Iraq invasion. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for similar measures. He had drafted a memorandum outlining circumstances in which national priorities might be compromised (including "obtaining vital raw materials, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "the United States should be postured to operate alone when collective action prove impossible," explicitly referencing armed actions against Iraq.
Bush too had arrived in the presidency vaguely intent on carrying out what his parent had famously refused to do in 1991; remove Saddam. Subsequent to he had been sacked by the president, the finance chief Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the first meeting of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had announced his objective of reducing America's participation in the Middle East dispute and mooted defense operations against Iraq.
Bush carried a individual resentment against Saddam, convinced he had been involved in a plot to assassinate his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He also disliked that one of the biggest hotels in Baghdad had a ground design with a portrait of his parent's face that everyone had to step on.
Investigation Approaches
However it was Cheney who was one of the most vociferous advocating striking Iraq, repeatedly quoting information documents that were either weak or completely misleading. He endorsed what the Bush White House politely called as "enhanced interrogation", the application of interrogation method and harsh treatment.
Addressing a Senate analysis in 2014 that determined that no valuable data had come from the torture, Cheney rejected the conclusions as "loaded with crap". He stated to Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to implement measures and establish initiatives to capture the bastards who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it would not recur. That's exactly what they did and they merit a lot of credit."
External Perception
Cheney reveled in labels assigned to him by critics such as the dark character and the dark figure, and by the notion that he was a shadow power manipulating Bush. In Peter Baker's 2013 book about the duo, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is reported as stating: "Do I represent the evil genius in the shadows that nobody ever sees emerge from his domain? This represents a effective way to work, actually."
Commercial Ties
Debate over his commercial relationships pursued him throughout his time as VP. Although he had limited background in corporate affairs but strong connections in defence, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's largest oil and gas companies, in 1995 as leader and top executive.
In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's running mate for the executive branch. Contentiously, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was given US deals totaling substantial sums.
It made him rich. His annual income during his tenure at the company grew from his previous salary during his time as defence secretary to millions. When he left in 2000 he had a severance arrangement worth more than $20m|twenty
