The former US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who passed away at age 84, was considered arguably the most influential holders of that office in American history. Whereas countless second-in-commands had to settle for minor or figurehead roles, Cheney exercised enormous sway during the administration of George W Bush, to the point that he was frequently described as the "real president".
Bush disliked that description and stated the connection was more complicated. He noted that Cheney was respectful, always referring to him in public settings as Mr President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush disputed even descriptions of their partnership as a collaboration because it suggested that they were equals. In spite of these denials, Cheney considered the easygoing president accommodating on a wide array of administrative determinations.
A Post-9/11 Era
In charge of a contingent of neo-cons that encompassed military head Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in reaction to the September 11th attacks on New York and Washington. During of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been taking part in a session at a school in Florida. Whereas Bush headed for a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, directing the shooting down of any unresponsive planes nearing the US Capitol.
Cheney said the assaults transformed him, causing him to be determined on retribution. In conjunction with other neo-conservatives, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a invasion of Afghanistan in an effort to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the armed intervention of Iraq, even though there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Controversial Actions
He showed no remorse about the armed intervention, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, nor about the enhanced interrogation of detainees rounded up after 9/11. He stated to 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 proper decision to do at that time. I believed it at the time and I maintain that stance presently."
Yet during that period, there were opposing views at a senior level about the botched execution of Iraq. One of the White House's own representatives to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the role. "I observed, as a baseline," he later wrote "obvious failure, negligence, and irresponsibility: potentially, deception, ineptitude, and dishonesty."
Broader Context
Cheney was not entirely accountable for the Iraq military action. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for comparable steps. He had drafted a document setting out circumstances in which American interests might be compromised (featuring "access to crucial commodities, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "the US should be postured to operate alone when collective action cannot be arranged," particularly referencing defense operations against Iraq.
Bush also had assumed the White House somewhat determined on carrying out what his parent had notably declined to do in 1991; topple Saddam. After he had been fired by the White House, the finance chief Paul O'Neill disclosed how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his intention of diminishing America's engagement in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and suggested military action against Iraq.
Bush bore a private grievance against Saddam, thinking he had been involved in a scheme to murder his parent, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He also resented that one of the largest accommodations in Baghdad had a floor mural with a likeness of his parent's countenance that everyone had to step on.
Questioning Techniques
However it was Cheney who was among the most vehement behind attacking Iraq, frequently citing intelligence reports that were whether thin or totally deceptive. He endorsed what the Bush White House politely called as "enhanced interrogation", the use of waterboarding and physical pressure.
Responding to a Senate document in 2014 that determined that no useful information had come from the harsh techniques, Cheney dismissed the findings as "loaded with crap". He told Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to take steps and establish procedures to apprehend the perpetrators who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it would not recur. That was specifically what they did and they earn a lot of credit."
Public Persona
Cheney reveled in nicknames imposed on him by opponents such as the dark character and the sinister presence, and by the notion that he was a shadow power manipulating Bush. In the author's 2013 book about the two, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is reported as stating: "Am I the sinister strategist in the background that remains unseen come out of his lair? It's a advantageous way to operate, in fact."
Corporate Connections
Dispute over his business interests pursued him throughout his time as VP. While he had minimal expertise in commerce but good contacts in defence, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's largest oil and gas corporations, in 1995 as chairman and chief executive.
In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's running mate for the White House. Controversially, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was granted US deals totaling multiple billions.
It made him rich. His yearly earnings during his time at the firm rose from his $258,394 while military head to millions. When he departed in 2000 he had a compensation package worth over $20m|twenty
