The late US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who died at the age of 84, was considered arguably the most influential occupants of that position in American history. Although countless second-in-commands had to settle for minor or ceremonial positions, Cheney wielded enormous influence during the term of George W Bush, to the point that he was often called as the "true president".
Bush resented this portrayal and claimed the connection was more complicated. He pointed out that Cheney was respectful, always referring to him in public as President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush challenged even characterisations of their relationship as a collaboration because it implied that they were on equal footing. Regardless of such protestations, Cheney viewed the easygoing president accommodating on a wide array of policy decisions.
A Post-9/11 Era
Leading of a faction of conservative hawks that included military head Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the military intervention of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been attending a session at a school in Florida. While Bush traveled to a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney took command, commanding the shooting down of any unresponsive planes nearing the Capitol building.
Cheney said the assaults changed him, causing him to be intent on retaliation. Along with other neo-conservatives, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a takeover of Afghanistan in an effort to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the armed intervention of Iraq, although there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein having involvement.
Controversial Decisions
He showed no remorse about the armed intervention, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis died, and not about the enhanced interrogation of detainees captured after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was predicated on misleading reports repeated by Cheney, was the proper course of action. "It represented the right thing to do back then. I had faith then and I maintain that stance now."
But even then, there were contrary opinions at a top tier about the poor management of Iraq. One of the government's own representatives to the Middle East, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the position. "I saw, at a minimum," he later wrote "true dereliction, negligence, and unaccountability: in the worst case, lying, incompetence, and graft."
Broader Context
Cheney was not completely responsible for the Iraq invasion. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for comparable steps. He had drafted a document setting out scenarios in which national priorities might be endangered (featuring "obtaining essential resources, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "America should be prepared to take unilateral action when cooperative measures prove impossible," specifically referencing defense operations against Iraq.
Bush too had entered the presidency somewhat determined on implementing what his parent had specifically avoided to do in 1991; remove Saddam. Following he had been dismissed by the president, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his plan of reducing America's engagement in the Middle East dispute and proposed defense operations against Iraq.
Bush held a individual resentment against Saddam, believing he had been behind a scheme to kill his father, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He also resented that one of the most prominent hotels in Baghdad had a ground design with a image of his predecessor's visage that all visitors had to tread upon.
Investigation Approaches
Yet it was Cheney who was among the most vociferous advocating striking Iraq, repeatedly citing agency briefings that were whether weak or completely deceptive. He supported what the Bush administration politely called as "intensive questioning", the use of simulated drowning and physical pressure.
Responding to a Senate document in 2014 that concluded that no valuable data had resulted from the torture, Cheney rejected the conclusions as "riddled with crap". He informed Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to implement measures and put in place programmes to capture the individuals who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it would not recur. That is precisely what they did and they earn a lot of credit."
Public Persona
Cheney took pleasure in monikers given to him by opponents such as the dark character and the sinister presence, and by the concept that he was a shadow power directing Bush. In the author's 2013 publication about the duo, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is cited as commenting: "Am I the sinister strategist in the corner that nobody ever sees come out of his hole? It's a nice way to function, truthfully."
Business Interests
Controversy over his commercial relationships accompanied him during his tenure as vice-president. Even though he had limited background in commerce but established relationships in security, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's biggest petroleum corporations, in 1995 as leader and CEO.
In 2000 he was selected as Bush's running mate for the presidency. Debatably, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was granted US agreements totaling billions.
It made him rich. His yearly earnings during his period at the corporation rose from his $258,394 when he was Pentagon chief to millions. When he left in 2000 he had a severance arrangement totaling in excess of $20m|twenty
