The deceased US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who died at the age of 84, was considered arguably the most significant incumbents of that office in US history. While many second-in-commands were confined to peripheral or symbolic functions, Cheney held substantial sway during the term of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was often called as the "actual president".
Bush disliked that description and said the dynamic was more nuanced. He noted that Cheney was courteous, invariably addressing him in official appearances as President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush questioned even characterisations of their association as a team because it suggested that they were on equal footing. Regardless of these objections, Cheney considered the relaxed president malleable on a whole raft of policy decisions.
A Aftermath of 9/11
In charge of a contingent of neo-cons that encompassed Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the invasion of Iraq in 2003 in reaction to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. During of the 9/11 strike, Bush had been attending a gathering at a educational institution in Florida. As Bush headed for a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney took command, directing the downing of any unresponsive aircraft heading toward the US Capitol.
Cheney stated the assaults altered his perspective, leading him to become determined on revenge. Together with other conservative figures, 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 military action of Iraq, though there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein having involvement.
Disputed Actions
He expressed no regrets about the armed intervention, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis died, and not about the harsh treatment of individuals apprehended after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was predicated on misleading information repeated by Cheney, was the correct path to take. "It was the right thing to do back then. I believed it at the time and I hold that view now."
Yet during that period, there were dissenting voices at a high level about the poor management of Iraq. One of the government's own representatives to the Middle East, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the post. "I witnessed, at a minimum," he subsequently stated "clear negligence, negligence, and recklessness: in the worst case, falsehoods, ineptitude, and corruption."
Broader Context
Cheney was not completely accountable for the Iraq military action. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for such action. He had drafted a memo setting out scenarios in which American interests might be threatened (including "obtaining vital raw materials, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "the US should be prepared to take unilateral action when collective action cannot be arranged," explicitly mentioning defense operations against Iraq.
Bush too had entered the Oval Office generally inclined on executing what his father had famously refused to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. After he had been dismissed by the administration, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill disclosed how, at the first meeting of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his objective of reducing America's participation in the Middle East dispute and proposed defense operations against Iraq.
Bush bore a personal grudge against Saddam, believing he had been involved in a conspiracy to kill his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He also resented that one of the most prominent establishments in Baghdad had a ground design with a likeness of his parent's face that each person had to walk over.
Investigation Approaches
Yet it was Cheney who was among the most outspoken behind attacking Iraq, consistently referencing information documents that were either weak or entirely misleading. He endorsed what the Bush administration euphemistically referred to as "enhanced interrogation", the use of waterboarding and harsh treatment.
Responding to a Senate document in 2014 that determined that no actionable intelligence had come from the torture, Cheney dismissed the report as "riddled with crap". He informed Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to take steps and establish programmes to capture the perpetrators who killed 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 credit."
Public Persona
Cheney enjoyed nicknames imposed on him by detractors such as the Star Wars villain and The Prince of Darkness, and by the concept that he was a shadow power manipulating Bush. In the author's 2013 book about the duo, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is quoted as saying: "Do I represent the malevolent mastermind in the shadows that remains unseen leave his hole? It's a effective way to operate, actually."
Business Interests
Debate over his corporate affiliations accompanied him during his tenure as second-in-command. Although he had limited background in corporate affairs but good contacts in military, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's biggest energy companies, in 1995 as leader and chief executive.
In 2000 he was selected as Bush's election partner for the presidency. Debatably, during the military campaign, Halliburton was awarded US deals worth multiple billions.
It made him rich. His yearly compensation during his time at the company increased from his previous salary during his time as military head to $4.4m. When he left in 2000 he had a severance arrangement worth more than $20m|twenty
