The late US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who passed away at the age of 84, was considered among the most influential holders of that position in the nation's history. Although countless second-in-commands were confined to marginal or symbolic positions, Cheney held enormous power during the presidency of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was frequently described as the "actual president".
Bush resented that description and claimed the connection was more nuanced. He pointed out that Cheney was deferential, consistently referring to him in public as Mr President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush questioned even descriptions of their partnership as a partnership because it suggested that they were peers. Despite these objections, Cheney viewed the easygoing president malleable on a whole raft of administrative determinations.
A Period Following the Attacks
At the head of a group of neo-conservatives that featured military head Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command 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 attack, Bush had been attending a gathering at a elementary school in Florida. While Bush headed for a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, commanding the downing of any unresponsive planes approaching the US Capitol.
Cheney stated the assaults transformed him, leading him to become determined on retaliation. Together with other neo-cons, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a takeover of Afghanistan in an attempt to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the invasion of Iraq, though there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein playing a role.
Debated Policies
He showed no remorse about the military campaign, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis perished, and not about the waterboarding of suspects captured after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was based on faulty reports repeated by Cheney, was the correct decision. "It represented the proper decision to do back then. I believed it back then and I maintain that stance presently."
But during that period, there were dissenting voices at a high level about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the government's own representatives to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the role. "I observed, at a minimum," he subsequently stated "obvious failure, inaction, and irresponsibility: potentially, falsehoods, ineptitude, and dishonesty."
Broader Context
Cheney was not completely responsible for the Iraq campaign. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for such action. He had composed a document outlining situations in which US concerns might be threatened (including "availability of vital raw materials, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "America should be prepared to operate alone when cooperative measures cannot be arranged," specifically mentioning military moves against Iraq.
Bush also had assumed the White House generally inclined on executing what his predecessor had specifically avoided to do in 1991; remove Saddam. Subsequent to he had been dismissed by the president, the finance chief Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the first meeting of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his intention of lowering America's participation in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and suggested armed intervention against Iraq.
Bush held a private grievance against Saddam, convinced he had been involved in a conspiracy to kill his parent, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally resented that one of the biggest establishments in Baghdad had a ground design with a image of his parent's countenance that everyone had to tread upon.
Interrogation Methods
However it was Cheney who was part of the most vehement supporting attacking Iraq, frequently quoting intelligence reports that were both insubstantial or completely misleading. He backed what the Bush White House politely called as "advanced techniques", the application of waterboarding and harsh treatment.
Answering a Senate report in 2014 that concluded that no useful information had resulted from the torture, Cheney disregarded the findings as "full of crap". He informed Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to establish protocols and establish programmes to capture the perpetrators who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it would not recur. That's exactly what they did and they earn a lot of recognition."
External Perception
Cheney enjoyed monikers imposed on him by detractors such as Darth Vader and the sinister presence, and by the idea that he was a dark force manipulating Bush. In the author's 2013 volume about the pair, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is quoted as saying: "Do I represent the sinister strategist in the shadows that operates invisibly come out of his domain? This represents a nice way to operate, actually."
Commercial Ties
Debate over his business interests accompanied him through his period as vice-president. While he had limited background in corporate affairs but good contacts in defence, particularly 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 chair and top executive.
In 2000 he was selected as Bush's running mate for the presidency. Controversially, during the military campaign, Halliburton was granted US agreements worth substantial sums.
It greatly increased his wealth. His yearly earnings during his tenure at the company rose from his $258,394 when he was military head to millions. When he left in 2000 he had a package totaling more than $20m|twenty
