The deceased US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who died at age 84, was regarded as one of the most powerful occupants of that position in US history. Although numerous second-in-commands had to settle for marginal or figurehead functions, Cheney held substantial sway during the term of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was often referred to as the "actual president".
Bush disliked this portrayal and stated the relationship was more complicated. He observed that Cheney was courteous, consistently referring to him in public settings as the President, while he called him as Dick. Bush challenged even descriptions of their partnership as a team because it implied that they were on equal footing. Despite such protestations, Cheney considered the relaxed president pliable on a broad range of administrative determinations.
A Aftermath of 9/11
At the head of a faction of neo-conservatives that featured military head 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. At the time of the 9/11 strike, Bush had been participating in a session at a educational institution in Florida. Whereas Bush made his way to a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, ordering the destruction of any non-communicating planes approaching the US Capitol.
Cheney claimed the attacks changed him, making him become determined on revenge. Together with other neo-conservatives, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a occupation of Afghanistan in an effort to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the invasion of Iraq, although there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein playing a role.
Debated Actions
He voiced no apologies about the armed intervention, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis died, and not about the enhanced interrogation of suspects apprehended after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was based on misleading reports circulated by Cheney, was the right course of action. "It was the proper decision to do at that time. I had faith at the time and I believe it presently."
But during that period, there were contrary opinions at a top tier about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the administration's own delegates to the Middle East, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the position. "I witnessed, as a baseline," he later wrote "true dereliction, inaction, and irresponsibility: potentially, deception, ineptitude, and corruption."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not completely to blame for the Iraq campaign. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for similar measures. He had composed a memorandum detailing circumstances in which national priorities might be endangered (including "access to crucial commodities, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "the US should be positioned to take unilateral action when joint efforts cannot be orchestrated," particularly referencing defense operations against Iraq.
Bush also had assumed the Oval Office vaguely intent on carrying out what his predecessor had notably declined to do in 1991; remove Saddam. After he had been fired by the administration, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill disclosed how, at the initial gathering 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 defense operations against Iraq.
Bush bore a individual resentment against Saddam, convinced he had been involved in a scheme to assassinate his father, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He also resented that one of the biggest accommodations in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a likeness of his father's face that all visitors had to tread upon.
Investigation Approaches
Yet it was Cheney who was among the most vociferous behind striking Iraq, consistently referencing agency briefings that were either weak or completely inaccurate. He endorsed what the Bush administration indirectly described as "intensive questioning", the employment of simulated drowning and harsh treatment.
Answering a Senate report in 2014 that determined that no actionable intelligence had come from the torture, Cheney rejected the report as "full of crap". He stated to Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to implement measures and put in place initiatives to apprehend the individuals who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it would not recur. That's exactly what they did and they merit a lot of praise."
External Perception
Cheney enjoyed labels given to him by detractors such as the dark character and the dark figure, and by the concept that he was a dark force directing Bush. In the journalist's 2013 book about the duo, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is quoted as saying: "Am I the sinister strategist in the corner that operates invisibly come out of his lair? This represents a nice way to operate, in fact."
Corporate Connections
Controversy over his corporate affiliations followed him throughout his time as vice-president. While he had limited background in corporate affairs but strong connections in defence, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial oil and gas corporations, in 1995 as leader and CEO.
In 2000 he became Bush's VP candidate for the executive branch. Debatably, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was granted US agreements worth multiple billions.
It greatly increased his wealth. His annual income during his time at the company increased from his quarter-million dollars during his time as Pentagon chief to millions. When he left in 2000 he had a package worth more than $20m|twenty
