The former US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who died at age 84, was seen as among the most powerful holders of that office in American history. Whereas countless second-in-commands had to settle for minor or figurehead functions, Cheney exercised enormous sway during the term of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was commonly described as the "real president".
Bush objected to such a characterisation and claimed the dynamic was more complex. He noted that Cheney was respectful, consistently referring to him in public settings as President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush challenged even portrayals of their association as a team because it implied that they were equals. In spite of these denials, Cheney found the laidback president pliable on a broad range of administrative determinations.
A Aftermath of 9/11
In charge of a contingent of neo-cons that encompassed military head Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the military intervention of Iraq in 2003 in reaction to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. During of the 9/11 strike, Bush had been attending a session at a educational institution in Florida. While Bush traveled to a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, directing the downing of any unidentified airplanes heading toward the government building.
Cheney said the assaults transformed him, causing him to be focused on retaliation. In conjunction with other neo-cons, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a occupation of Afghanistan in an endeavor to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the invasion of Iraq, even though there was little proof of Saddam Hussein having involvement.
Disputed Decisions
He showed no remorse about the military campaign, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, and not about the waterboarding of suspects apprehended after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was based on faulty reports echoed by Cheney, was the proper path to take. "It represented the proper decision to do back then. I believed it then and I maintain that stance now."
But during that period, there were dissenting voices at a top tier about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the White House's own special envoys to the Middle East, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the position. "I observed, as a baseline," he later wrote "true dereliction, negligence, and unaccountability: potentially, falsehoods, ineptitude, and corruption."
Broader Context
Cheney was not solely accountable for the Iraq invasion. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for such action. He had written a memo outlining circumstances in which national priorities might be compromised (featuring "access to essential resources, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "America should be prepared to act independently when joint efforts cannot be orchestrated," particularly mentioning defense operations against Iraq.
Bush additionally had entered the Oval Office vaguely intent on carrying out what his father had famously refused to do in 1991; remove Saddam. After he had been fired by the White House, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill disclosed how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his intention of diminishing America's engagement in the regional tensions and mooted military action against Iraq.
Bush held a individual resentment against Saddam, convinced he had been behind a conspiracy to murder his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He also disliked that one of the largest establishments in Baghdad had a ground design with a image of his father's visage that everyone had to walk over.
Interrogation Methods
Yet it was Cheney who was one of the most vociferous advocating striking Iraq, consistently quoting information documents that were both insubstantial or entirely misleading. He supported what the Bush White House politely called as "intensive questioning", the use of interrogation method and harsh treatment.
Responding to a Senate document in 2014 that determined that no useful information had been obtained through the interrogation methods, Cheney dismissed the report as "riddled with crap". He informed Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to implement measures and establish initiatives to catch the individuals 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 recognition."
Public Image
Cheney reveled in labels given to him by critics such as the Star Wars villain and The Prince of Darkness, and by the idea that he was a shadow power manipulating Bush. In Peter Baker's 2013 book about the two, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is cited as commenting: "Do I represent the sinister strategist in the shadows that remains unseen emerge from his domain? It's a advantageous way to work, truthfully."
Corporate Connections
Controversy over his corporate affiliations accompanied him during his tenure as vice-president. While he had little experience in corporate affairs but strong connections in defence, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial energy companies, in 1995 as chairman and top executive.
In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's election partner for the White House. Debatably, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was given US contracts totaling substantial sums.
It greatly increased his wealth. His yearly compensation during his tenure at the corporation grew from his previous salary when he was military head to millions. When he left in 2000 he had a package valued at over $20m|twenty
