The late US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who died at age 84, was seen as arguably the most influential holders of that office in the nation's history. While numerous VPs had to settle for minor or figurehead functions, Cheney exercised substantial power during the term of George W Bush, so much so that he was frequently referred to as the "actual president".
Bush objected to such a characterisation and stated the dynamic was more complicated. He pointed out that Cheney was deferential, invariably calling him in official appearances as Mr President, while he called him as Dick. Bush challenged even descriptions of their association as a collaboration because it suggested that they were on equal footing. Regardless of these denials, Cheney viewed the easygoing president accommodating on a whole raft of administrative determinations.
The Period Following the Attacks
In charge of a group of neo-conservatives that featured Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in response to the September 11th attacks on New York and Washington. During of the 9/11 strike, Bush had been attending a gathering at a elementary school in Florida. As Bush made his way to a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, commanding the shooting down of any non-communicating planes heading toward the Capitol building.
Cheney stated the strikes changed him, making him become determined on retaliation. Together with other conservative figures, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a occupation of Afghanistan in an endeavor to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the armed intervention of Iraq, although there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein playing a role.
Disputed Decisions
He expressed no regrets about the invasion, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis perished, and not about the waterboarding of individuals apprehended after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was founded on faulty information circulated by Cheney, was the right course of action. "It proved to be the correct action to do then. I had faith then and I maintain that stance presently."
But even then, there were opposing views at a top tier about the poor management of Iraq. One of the government's own representatives to the Middle East, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the role. "I saw, as a baseline," he wrote later "true dereliction, inaction, and irresponsibility: at worst, falsehoods, unfitness, and corruption."
Additional Factors
Cheney was not completely to blame for the Iraq military action. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for comparable steps. He had drafted a document detailing circumstances in which American interests might be compromised (featuring "availability of vital raw materials, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "America should be positioned to take unilateral action when collective action cannot be arranged," particularly mentioning armed actions against Iraq.
Bush too had entered the White House somewhat determined on implementing what his parent had famously refused to do in 1991; topple Saddam. Subsequent to he had been fired by the president, the finance chief Paul O'Neill disclosed how, at the first meeting of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his plan of reducing America's engagement in the regional tensions and suggested defense operations against Iraq.
Bush carried a private grievance against Saddam, believing he had been responsible for a plot to assassinate his parent, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He also disliked that one of the biggest hotels in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a likeness of his predecessor's countenance that everyone had to step on.
Interrogation Methods
But it was Cheney who was part of the most outspoken advocating attacking Iraq, frequently quoting intelligence reports that were whether weak or totally deceptive. He endorsed what the Bush government euphemistically referred to as "intensive questioning", the employment of simulated drowning and torture.
Responding to a Senate document in 2014 that found that no useful information had come from the interrogation methods, Cheney dismissed the conclusions as "riddled with crap". He informed Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to implement measures and create procedures 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 praise."
Public Persona
Cheney enjoyed nicknames given to him by opponents such as Darth Vader and the dark figure, and by the notion that he was a sinister influence directing Bush. In the journalist's 2013 volume about the duo, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is reported as stating: "Do I represent the sinister strategist in the shadows that remains unseen come out of his domain? This represents a nice way to function, truthfully."
Commercial Ties
Dispute over his business interests pursued him throughout his time as second-in-command. Although he had limited background in commerce but good contacts in military, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's largest energy companies, in 1995 as chairman and chief executive.
In 2000 he was selected as Bush's running mate for the executive branch. Contentiously, during the military campaign, Halliburton was awarded US contracts totaling substantial sums.
It greatly increased his wealth. His annual income during his time at the firm increased from his $258,394 during his time as Pentagon chief to over four million. When he resigned in 2000 he had a compensation package worth more than $20m|twenty
