The deceased US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who died at the age of 84, was regarded as one of the most influential holders of that position in American history. Whereas many second-in-commands had to settle for marginal or figurehead roles, Cheney held enormous power during the presidency of George W Bush, to the point that he was commonly referred to as the "true president".
Bush resented that description and said the relationship was more complicated. He observed that Cheney was courteous, always referring to him in official appearances as President, while he called him as Dick. Bush challenged even characterisations of their partnership as a partnership because it suggested that they were on equal footing. Despite such protestations, Cheney considered the laidback president pliable on a broad range of policy decisions.
A Post-9/11 Era
Leading of a group of conservative hawks that featured defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the military intervention 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 attending a meeting at a school in Florida. As Bush made his way to a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, commanding the downing of any unresponsive airplanes approaching the government building.
Cheney said the strikes transformed him, leading him to become focused on revenge. Along with other neo-cons, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a takeover of Afghanistan in an effort to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the armed intervention of Iraq, although there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein playing a role.
Controversial Policies
He showed no remorse about the armed intervention, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis died, nor about the waterboarding of suspects apprehended after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was founded on misleading information circulated by Cheney, was the proper path to take. "It was the correct action to do then. I had faith then and I hold that view now."
However during that period, there were dissenting voices at a senior level about the poor management of Iraq. One of the government's own representatives to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the role. "I saw, at the very least," he later wrote "true dereliction, inaction, and recklessness: potentially, deception, ineptitude, and corruption."
Broader Context
Cheney was not completely accountable for the Iraq invasion. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for similar measures. He had drafted a document detailing circumstances in which national priorities might be compromised (featuring "access to essential resources, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "America should be prepared to operate alone when collective action cannot be orchestrated," particularly citing armed actions against Iraq.
Bush additionally had assumed the presidency vaguely intent on implementing what his parent had specifically avoided to do in 1991; topple Saddam. Subsequent to he had been sacked by the White House, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had announced his objective of reducing America's engagement in the regional tensions and proposed armed intervention against Iraq.
Bush held a private grievance against Saddam, believing he had been behind a plot to murder his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore disliked that one of the most prominent hotels in Baghdad had a floor mural with a image of his parent's countenance that everyone had to tread upon.
Questioning Techniques
Yet it was Cheney who was among the most outspoken behind attacking Iraq, repeatedly referencing intelligence reports that were whether thin or totally deceptive. He backed what the Bush administration indirectly described as "enhanced interrogation", the application of simulated drowning and physical pressure.
Addressing a Senate report in 2014 that determined that no useful information had come from the interrogation methods, Cheney disregarded the findings as "full of crap". He told Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to take steps and create initiatives to apprehend the perpetrators who took the lives of 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it was not repeated. That was specifically what they did and they merit a lot of credit."
Public Image
Cheney enjoyed labels imposed on him by opponents such as Darth Vader and the sinister presence, and by the notion that he was a shadow power directing Bush. In the author's 2013 publication about the pair, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is reported as stating: "Is it me who is the evil genius in the corner that nobody ever sees emerge from his lair? This represents a advantageous way to work, actually."
Commercial Ties
Dispute over his corporate affiliations pursued him throughout his time as VP. While he had little experience in corporate affairs but good contacts in security, notably 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 running mate for the executive branch. Debatably, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was granted US agreements valued at multiple billions.
It made him rich. His yearly earnings during his period at the corporation rose from his previous salary while Pentagon chief to millions. When he resigned in 2000 he had a severance arrangement totaling in excess of $20m|twenty
