The late US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who died at age 84, was seen as one of the most significant incumbents of the vice-presidency in the nation's history. Whereas numerous second-in-commands were limited to minor or figurehead positions, Cheney exercised enormous sway during the term of George W Bush, so much so that he was commonly described as the "real president".
Bush objected to such a characterisation and claimed the dynamic was more complicated. He observed that Cheney was respectful, always addressing him in official appearances as Mr President, while he called him as Dick. Bush disputed even descriptions of their association as a collaboration because it implied that they were peers. In spite of these denials, Cheney found the laidback president accommodating on a whole raft of policy decisions.
A Post-9/11 Era
Leading of a faction of neo-cons that included military head Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the invasion of Iraq in 2003 in reaction to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. During of the 9/11 assault, Bush had been taking part in a meeting at a educational institution in Florida. Whereas Bush headed for a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, ordering the downing of any non-communicating airplanes approaching the US Capitol.
Cheney said the strikes transformed him, making him become determined on revenge. Along with other conservative figures, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a occupation of Afghanistan in an effort to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then pressed fiercely for the armed intervention of Iraq, though there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein playing a role.
Controversial Policies
He voiced no apologies about the armed intervention, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis died, nor about the waterboarding of individuals apprehended after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was founded on misleading reports repeated by Cheney, was the right path to take. "It proved to be the correct action to do at that time. I was convinced at the time and I hold that view now."
However even at the time, there were opposing views at a top tier about the poor management of Iraq. One of the administration's own delegates to the Middle East, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the post. "I observed, at a minimum," he later wrote "clear negligence, inaction, and irresponsibility: at worst, deception, incompetence, and corruption."
Broader Context
Cheney was not completely to blame for the Iraq invasion. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for similar measures. He had composed a memorandum setting out circumstances in which US concerns might be threatened (featuring "obtaining crucial commodities, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "America should be prepared to operate alone when joint efforts cannot be orchestrated," particularly referencing defense operations against Iraq.
Bush additionally had assumed the Oval Office somewhat determined on implementing what his predecessor had specifically avoided to do in 1991; topple Saddam. Following he had been fired by the White House, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had announced his objective of diminishing America's participation in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and mooted military action against Iraq.
Bush held a individual resentment against Saddam, believing he had been responsible for a plot to murder his father, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore disliked that one of the biggest establishments in Baghdad had a ground design with a image of his parent's visage that all visitors had to tread upon.
Interrogation Methods
However it was Cheney who was among the most vehement behind invading Iraq, consistently citing information documents that were whether thin or totally inaccurate. He supported what the Bush White House indirectly described as "enhanced interrogation", the application of simulated drowning and physical pressure.
Answering a Senate report in 2014 that determined that no valuable data had been obtained through the harsh techniques, Cheney disregarded the conclusions as "loaded with crap". He informed Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to establish protocols and put in place initiatives to apprehend the bastards who took the lives of 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it was not repeated. That was specifically what they did and they earn a lot of credit."
Public Image
Cheney reveled in nicknames assigned to him by detractors such as the dark character and the dark figure, and by the idea that he was a shadow power directing Bush. In Peter Baker'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 malevolent mastermind in the background that operates invisibly come out of his lair? That is a nice way to operate, truthfully."
Commercial Ties
Controversy over his business interests accompanied him during his tenure as vice-president. Even though he had limited background in commerce but established relationships in military, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial energy corporations, in 1995 as leader and CEO.
In 2000 he was selected as Bush's election partner for the presidency. Contentiously, during the military campaign, Halliburton was given US contracts worth multiple billions.
It greatly increased his wealth. His yearly earnings during his time at the firm rose from his $258,394 when he was military head to over four million. When he left in 2000 he had a severance arrangement valued at over $20m|twenty
