The former US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who passed away at the age of 84, was regarded as among the most influential incumbents of that office in American history. While many second-in-commands had to settle for peripheral or symbolic functions, Cheney exercised enormous sway during the presidency of George W Bush, to the point that he was frequently referred to as the "real president".
Bush objected to this portrayal and said the relationship was more complex. He pointed out that Cheney was deferential, invariably calling him in public settings as the President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush challenged even descriptions of their relationship as a partnership because it implied that they were on equal footing. In spite of such protestations, Cheney found the easygoing president malleable on a broad range of governmental choices.
The Period Following the Attacks
Leading of a group of neo-cons that encompassed Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. At the time of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been participating in a meeting at a school in Florida. While Bush headed for a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, ordering the downing of any non-communicating airplanes approaching the US Capitol.
Cheney claimed the attacks transformed him, causing him to be focused on retaliation. In conjunction with other conservative figures, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a takeover of Afghanistan in an effort to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the armed intervention of Iraq, though there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein playing a role.
Debated Decisions
He expressed no regrets about the military campaign, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis perished, or about the waterboarding of individuals captured after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was based on inaccurate intelligence circulated by Cheney, was the proper course of action. "It represented the right thing to do at that time. I believed it then and I maintain that stance today."
However even then, there were contrary opinions at a senior level about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the administration's own representatives to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the position. "I witnessed, at the very least," he subsequently stated "obvious failure, carelessness, and recklessness: potentially, falsehoods, unfitness, and graft."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not entirely accountable for the Iraq invasion. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for similar measures. He had drafted a memorandum outlining scenarios in which American interests might be threatened (featuring "access to essential resources, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "America should be positioned to operate alone when cooperative measures prove impossible," explicitly referencing defense operations against Iraq.
Bush additionally had arrived in the White House generally inclined on implementing what his predecessor had notably declined to do in 1991; remove Saddam. Subsequent to he had been sacked by the administration, the Treasury head 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 Middle East dispute and mooted defense operations against Iraq.
Bush carried a personal grudge against Saddam, convinced he had been behind a scheme to murder his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally disliked that one of the largest establishments in Baghdad had a floor mural with a likeness of his predecessor's countenance that everyone had to walk over.
Interrogation Methods
But it was Cheney who was among the most outspoken supporting attacking Iraq, frequently referencing information documents that were either insubstantial or entirely misleading. He backed what the Bush White House euphemistically referred to as "enhanced interrogation", the use of interrogation method and harsh treatment.
Responding to a Senate report in 2014 that concluded that no valuable data had resulted from the interrogation methods, Cheney disregarded the conclusions as "riddled with crap". He informed Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to implement measures and create initiatives to apprehend the perpetrators who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it never happened again. That was specifically what they did and they merit a lot of praise."
Public Image
Cheney enjoyed nicknames assigned 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 the journalist's 2013 volume about the two, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is quoted as saying: "Am I the evil genius in the corner that operates invisibly come out of his domain? It's a advantageous way to function, truthfully."
Business Interests
Debate over his business interests accompanied him throughout his time as vice-president. Even though he had minimal expertise in commerce but strong connections in defence, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's biggest oil and gas corporations, in 1995 as leader and top executive.
In 2000 he became Bush's running mate for the executive branch. Contentiously, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was given US agreements totaling billions.
It greatly increased his wealth. His yearly compensation during his period at the firm grew from his previous salary during his time as Pentagon chief to $4.4m. When he resigned in 2000 he had a compensation package totaling over $20m|twenty
