The late US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who passed away at the age of 84, was regarded as one of the most influential occupants of that office in the nation's history. While numerous second-in-commands had to settle for minor or symbolic roles, Cheney exercised enormous power during the presidency of George W Bush, to the point that he was often described as the "actual president".
Bush objected to this portrayal and stated the connection was more complex. He pointed out that Cheney was deferential, consistently calling him in official appearances as the President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush disputed even portrayals of their association as a collaboration because it implied that they were peers. Regardless of these denials, Cheney considered the relaxed president malleable on a whole raft of policy decisions.
The Post-9/11 Era
At the head of a contingent of neo-conservatives that encompassed military head Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the invasion of Iraq in 2003 in response to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. At the time of the 9/11 strike, Bush had been participating in a meeting at a school in Florida. As Bush made his way to a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney took command, ordering the shooting down of any unidentified planes nearing the Capitol building.
Cheney claimed the assaults transformed him, making him become focused on retribution. In conjunction with other neo-conservatives, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a occupation of Afghanistan in an attempt to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the military action of Iraq, even though there was little proof of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Disputed Policies
He showed no remorse about the invasion, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis died, nor about the waterboarding of individuals apprehended after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was predicated on misleading intelligence repeated by Cheney, was the proper path to take. "It represented the proper decision to do then. I was convinced at the time and I hold that view now."
However even then, there were contrary opinions at a high level about the botched execution of Iraq. One of the administration's own special envoys to the Middle East, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the position. "I observed, at the very least," he wrote later "clear negligence, carelessness, and recklessness: at worst, falsehoods, incompetence, and graft."
Broader Context
Cheney was not completely responsible for the Iraq invasion. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for comparable steps. He had composed a memo detailing situations in which national priorities might be threatened (including "obtaining vital raw materials, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "the United States should be prepared to operate alone when cooperative measures cannot be orchestrated," particularly referencing defense operations against Iraq.
Bush also had arrived in the Oval Office somewhat determined on executing what his parent had specifically avoided to do in 1991; remove Saddam. Subsequent to he had been fired by the president, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had announced his intention of diminishing America's involvement in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and mooted defense operations against Iraq.
Bush bore a individual resentment against Saddam, believing he had been behind a conspiracy to assassinate his parent, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He also objected to that one of the most prominent establishments in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a portrait of his father's visage that all visitors had to walk over.
Interrogation Methods
However it was Cheney who was among the most outspoken behind attacking Iraq, repeatedly quoting intelligence reports that were whether insubstantial or completely inaccurate. He backed what the Bush government indirectly described as "advanced techniques", the application of waterboarding and harsh treatment.
Responding to a Senate analysis in 2014 that determined that no valuable data had come from the torture, Cheney disregarded the conclusions as "riddled with crap". He informed Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to implement measures and establish initiatives to catch the bastards who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it was not repeated. That's exactly what they did and they merit a lot of praise."
Public Image
Cheney reveled in labels given to him by detractors such as Darth Vader and the sinister presence, and by the idea that he was a shadow power directing Bush. In the author's 2013 volume about the two, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is reported as stating: "Do I represent the evil genius in the corner that remains unseen come out of his domain? That is a advantageous way to operate, in fact."
Corporate Connections
Dispute over his commercial relationships pursued him throughout his time as second-in-command. Even though he had little experience in corporate affairs but strong connections in defence, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial oil and gas companies, in 1995 as chair and chief executive.
In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's running mate for the White House. Debatably, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was awarded US contracts totaling multiple billions.
It significantly boosted his finances. His yearly earnings during his time at the company rose from his quarter-million dollars during his time as Pentagon chief to over four million. When he left in 2000 he had a compensation package worth more than $20m|twenty
