The deceased US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who passed away at the age of 84, was considered arguably the most influential occupants of that office in American history. While numerous second-in-commands were limited to minor or symbolic functions, Cheney held substantial sway during the term of George W Bush, so much so that he was frequently referred to as the "actual president".
Bush objected to that description and said the connection was more nuanced. He observed that Cheney was courteous, consistently referring to him in public as President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush disputed even portrayals of their association as a team because it suggested that they were on equal footing. In spite of these objections, Cheney viewed the easygoing president accommodating on a whole raft of governmental choices.
The Aftermath of 9/11
In charge of a contingent of neo-conservatives that included Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in reaction 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 elementary school in Florida. While Bush made his way to a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, ordering the downing of any non-communicating planes approaching the government building.
Cheney claimed the attacks changed him, leading him to become intent on retribution. Together with other neo-cons, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a occupation of Afghanistan in an attempt to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the armed intervention of Iraq, even though there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein playing a role.
Disputed Actions
He expressed no regrets about the armed intervention, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis perished, and not about the enhanced interrogation of detainees captured after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was predicated on inaccurate reports repeated by Cheney, was the correct decision. "It represented the right thing to do at that time. I believed it back then and I hold that view now."
However even at the time, there were opposing views at a high level about the poor management of Iraq. One of the government's own delegates to the Middle East, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the role. "I observed, at the very least," he subsequently stated "clear negligence, carelessness, and irresponsibility: potentially, falsehoods, ineptitude, and dishonesty."
Broader Context
Cheney was not solely accountable for the Iraq invasion. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for comparable steps. He had composed a memo detailing situations in which American interests might be compromised (including "availability of essential resources, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "America should be positioned to act independently when collective action prove impossible," explicitly referencing military moves against Iraq.
Bush too had arrived in the Oval Office generally inclined on executing what his predecessor had famously refused to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. After he had been fired by the administration, the finance chief Paul O'Neill disclosed how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his intention of diminishing America's involvement in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and suggested defense operations against Iraq.
Bush carried a individual resentment against Saddam, convinced he had been behind a scheme to murder his father, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He also disliked that one of the most prominent establishments in Baghdad had a ground design with a likeness of his parent's visage that all visitors had to tread upon.
Investigation Approaches
However it was Cheney who was part of the most outspoken advocating invading Iraq, repeatedly citing intelligence reports that were whether insubstantial or completely misleading. He supported what the Bush administration politely called as "enhanced interrogation", the application of simulated drowning and harsh treatment.
Responding to a Senate document in 2014 that concluded that no valuable data had resulted from the interrogation methods, Cheney dismissed the conclusions as "riddled with crap". He informed Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to establish protocols and create programmes to catch the perpetrators who took the lives of 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it was not repeated. That is precisely what they did and they merit a lot of credit."
Public Image
Cheney took pleasure in labels given to him by critics such as Darth Vader and the dark figure, and by the notion that he was a dark force manipulating Bush. In the journalist's 2013 volume about the two, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is cited as commenting: "Do I represent the evil genius in the corner that nobody ever sees emerge from his hole? It's a advantageous way to operate, truthfully."
Business Interests
Debate over his business interests pursued him during his tenure as vice-president. Although he had minimal expertise in business but good contacts in security, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's biggest energy conglomerates, in 1995 as chairman and CEO.
In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's election partner for the executive branch. Contentiously, during the military campaign, Halliburton was given US deals valued at substantial sums.
It made him rich. His yearly compensation during his tenure at the company rose from his quarter-million dollars when he was Pentagon chief to millions. When he departed in 2000 he had a compensation package valued at over $20m|twenty
