The deceased US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who died at age 84, was considered arguably the most significant occupants of that office in American history. Although many second-in-commands had to settle for marginal or ceremonial roles, Cheney exercised huge sway during the presidency of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was frequently referred to as the "actual president".
Bush disliked that description and said the connection was more complicated. He noted that Cheney was deferential, always calling him in official appearances as the President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush disputed even portrayals of their partnership as a partnership because it implied that they were equals. Regardless of such protestations, Cheney considered the relaxed president malleable on a broad range of governmental choices.
The Period Following the Attacks
In charge of a contingent 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 response to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 assault, Bush had been taking part in a session at a educational institution in Florida. Whereas Bush made his way to a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney took command, commanding the downing of any unresponsive aircraft approaching the Capitol building.
Cheney stated the attacks transformed him, causing him to be intent on revenge. Together with other neo-cons, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a occupation of Afghanistan in an effort to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then pressed fiercely for the military action of Iraq, even though there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Controversial Policies
He showed no remorse about the invasion, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis died, and not about the harsh treatment of individuals captured after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was founded on inaccurate reports circulated by Cheney, was the right course of action. "It proved to be the proper decision to do then. I believed it then and I believe it now."
But even at the time, there were opposing views at a high level about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the government's own special envoys to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the role. "I observed, at a minimum," he wrote later "true dereliction, carelessness, and irresponsibility: potentially, lying, incompetence, and dishonesty."
Broader Context
Cheney was not entirely to blame for the Iraq invasion. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for comparable steps. He had written a memorandum detailing situations in which American interests might be threatened (including "availability of crucial commodities, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "the US should be postured to act independently when joint efforts cannot be orchestrated," explicitly citing defense operations against Iraq.
Bush additionally had assumed the presidency generally inclined on implementing what his predecessor had famously refused to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. After he had been dismissed 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 declared his plan of reducing America's participation in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and mooted armed intervention against Iraq.
Bush bore a individual resentment against Saddam, convinced he had been behind a scheme to kill his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He also disliked that one of the most prominent establishments in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a portrait of his predecessor's visage that all visitors had to tread upon.
Questioning Techniques
However it was Cheney who was part of the most vociferous advocating attacking Iraq, consistently referencing intelligence reports that were whether insubstantial or entirely misleading. He endorsed what the Bush White House euphemistically referred to as "intensive questioning", the use of waterboarding and physical pressure.
Answering a Senate document in 2014 that found that no useful information had resulted from the harsh techniques, Cheney dismissed the findings as "full of crap". He told Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to take steps and establish programmes to catch the individuals who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it would not recur. That was specifically what they did and they merit a lot of praise."
External Perception
Cheney reveled in labels given to him by opponents such as Darth Vader and the sinister presence, and by the concept that he was a dark force controlling Bush. In the journalist's 2013 book about the duo, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is cited as commenting: "Is it me who is the evil genius in the corner that nobody ever sees emerge from his lair? This represents a effective way to function, truthfully."
Business Interests
Controversy over his business interests followed him through his period as VP. While he had little experience in commerce but established relationships in defence, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial petroleum conglomerates, in 1995 as chair and top executive.
In 2000 he was selected as Bush's running mate for the presidency. Debatably, during the military campaign, Halliburton was granted US contracts worth billions.
It significantly boosted his finances. His annual income during his tenure at the company grew from his quarter-million dollars when he was defence secretary to $4.4m. When he departed in 2000 he had a severance arrangement valued at more than $20m|twenty
