The late US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who passed away at age 84, was regarded as among the most influential holders of that office in US history. While many second-in-commands were limited to minor or ceremonial functions, Cheney exercised enormous power during the presidency of George W Bush, so much so that he was commonly called as the "actual president".
Bush resented such a characterisation and said the relationship was more complicated. He noted that Cheney was respectful, always addressing him in official appearances as the President, while he called him as Dick. Bush challenged even portrayals of their partnership as a partnership because it suggested that they were on equal footing. In spite of these denials, Cheney considered the easygoing president accommodating on a broad range of governmental choices.
A Aftermath of 9/11
In charge of a contingent of neo-cons that featured defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the military intervention of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the September 11th attacks on New York and Washington. At the time of the 9/11 assault, Bush had been taking part in a meeting at a elementary school in Florida. While Bush traveled to a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, commanding the downing of any non-communicating planes approaching the government building.
Cheney said the assaults changed him, leading him to become determined on retribution. In conjunction with other neo-conservatives, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a invasion of Afghanistan in an attempt to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the invasion of Iraq, even though there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein playing a role.
Debated Decisions
He voiced no apologies about the military campaign, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis died, nor about the waterboarding of individuals captured after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was based on inaccurate information circulated by Cheney, was the proper path to take. "It was the correct action to do back then. I believed it then and I believe it now."
Yet even then, there were dissenting voices at a top tier about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the government's own representatives to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the post. "I witnessed, as a baseline," he later wrote "clear negligence, negligence, and unaccountability: at worst, falsehoods, unfitness, and corruption."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not entirely accountable for the Iraq invasion. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for similar measures. He had composed a document outlining situations in which national priorities might be threatened (encompassing "obtaining vital raw materials, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "the US should be postured to act independently when collective action cannot be arranged," particularly referencing defense operations against Iraq.
Bush also had entered the presidency somewhat determined on carrying out what his predecessor had specifically avoided to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. After he had been sacked by the administration, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill disclosed how, at the first meeting of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his plan of diminishing America's engagement in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and proposed military action against Iraq.
Bush carried a individual resentment against Saddam, thinking he had been responsible for a scheme to kill his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore resented that one of the biggest hotels in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a image of his predecessor's face that everyone had to tread upon.
Investigation Approaches
However it was Cheney who was among the most outspoken behind attacking Iraq, frequently quoting information documents that were whether weak or entirely deceptive. He supported what the Bush government indirectly described as "intensive questioning", the employment of simulated drowning and physical pressure.
Responding to a Senate document in 2014 that found that no useful information had come from the interrogation methods, Cheney rejected the findings as "riddled with crap". He told Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to take steps and put in place procedures to catch the perpetrators who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it never happened again. That is precisely what they did and they deserve a lot of credit."
Public Image
Cheney took pleasure in nicknames assigned to him by critics such as Darth Vader and The Prince of Darkness, and by the notion that he was a sinister influence manipulating Bush. In the author's 2013 book about the duo, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is quoted as saying: "Is it me who is the sinister strategist in the shadows that nobody ever sees emerge from his domain? This represents a advantageous way to function, in fact."
Corporate Connections
Controversy over his business interests followed him during his tenure as second-in-command. Although he had little experience in commerce but strong connections in security, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's largest energy companies, in 1995 as chair and top executive.
In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's VP candidate for the presidency. Contentiously, during the military campaign, Halliburton was granted US deals valued at billions.
It significantly boosted his finances. His annual income during his period at the firm grew from his quarter-million dollars when he was defence secretary to over four million. When he departed in 2000 he had a compensation package worth more than $20m|twenty
