The deceased US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who died at age 84, was seen as among the most influential occupants of that office in US history. Although many second-in-commands had to settle for peripheral or symbolic functions, Cheney held enormous influence during the administration of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was often called as the "true president".
Bush objected to that description and claimed the connection was more nuanced. He observed that Cheney was respectful, consistently referring to him in public as Mr President, while he called him as Dick. Bush challenged even characterisations of their partnership as a partnership because it indicated that they were on equal footing. In spite of such protestations, Cheney viewed the easygoing president accommodating on a whole raft of policy decisions.
The Period Following the Attacks
Leading of a faction of neo-cons that featured military head Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the military intervention of Iraq in 2003 in response to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. At the time of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been participating in a gathering at a elementary school in Florida. As Bush made his way to a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, ordering the destruction of any unresponsive airplanes heading toward the Capitol building.
Cheney claimed the assaults transformed him, making him become focused on retaliation. Along with other neo-conservatives, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a occupation of Afghanistan in an effort to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then pressed fiercely for the invasion of Iraq, although there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Controversial Actions
He showed no remorse about the invasion, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, and not about the waterboarding of detainees apprehended after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was predicated on inaccurate intelligence repeated by Cheney, was the right course of action. "It was the right thing to do at that time. I had faith then and I hold that view now."
But even then, there were dissenting voices at a senior level about the poor management of Iraq. One of the administration's own special envoys to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the post. "I observed, at the very least," he subsequently stated "clear negligence, inaction, and irresponsibility: potentially, deception, ineptitude, and graft."
Additional Factors
Cheney was not entirely responsible for the Iraq military action. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for such action. He had written a memorandum setting out scenarios in which American interests might be compromised (featuring "obtaining crucial commodities, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "America should be postured to take unilateral action when joint efforts prove impossible," specifically mentioning armed actions against Iraq.
Bush too had entered the presidency vaguely intent on carrying out what his predecessor had famously refused to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. Subsequent to he had been fired by the president, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his objective of reducing America's engagement in the regional tensions and mooted armed intervention against Iraq.
Bush carried a personal grudge against Saddam, convinced he had been behind a plot to murder his parent, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally disliked that one of the largest establishments in Baghdad had a floor mural with a likeness of his predecessor's countenance that each person had to tread upon.
Questioning Techniques
However it was Cheney who was among the most vehement supporting invading Iraq, repeatedly quoting intelligence reports that were either weak or entirely misleading. He backed what the Bush administration euphemistically referred to as "advanced techniques", the employment of waterboarding and harsh treatment.
Addressing a Senate report in 2014 that concluded that no useful information had resulted from the harsh techniques, Cheney rejected the conclusions as "riddled with crap". He stated to Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to implement measures and establish procedures to catch the individuals who took the lives of 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it would not recur. That's exactly what they did and they deserve a lot of recognition."
External Perception
Cheney enjoyed labels imposed on him by opponents such as Darth Vader and the dark figure, and by the concept that he was a sinister influence directing Bush. In the journalist's 2013 publication about the duo, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is quoted as saying: "Am I the evil genius in the corner that remains unseen emerge from his domain? This represents a nice way to work, truthfully."
Commercial Ties
Dispute over his commercial relationships pursued him during his tenure as vice-president. Although he had minimal expertise in business but established relationships in military, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's biggest oil and gas companies, in 1995 as chair and top executive.
In 2000 he was selected as Bush's election partner for the executive branch. Controversially, during the military campaign, Halliburton was awarded US agreements valued at substantial sums.
It made him rich. His yearly earnings during his time at the corporation increased from his previous salary while military head to over four million. When he left in 2000 he had a compensation package totaling more than $20m|twenty
