The former US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who passed away at the age of 84, was seen as among the most influential incumbents of that office in American history. Whereas numerous second-in-commands were limited to minor or symbolic functions, Cheney wielded substantial power during the presidency of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was commonly described as the "real president".
Bush disliked that description and said the connection was more complex. He pointed out that Cheney was respectful, consistently referring to him in official appearances as the President, while he called him as Dick. Bush disputed even descriptions of their association as a team because it indicated that they were peers. Despite these objections, Cheney found the laidback president malleable on a wide array of policy decisions.
A Aftermath of 9/11
At the head of a contingent of neo-cons that included defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the invasion of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. At the time of the 9/11 assault, Bush had been attending a meeting at a school in Florida. While Bush made his way to a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, ordering the shooting down of any non-communicating airplanes approaching the government building.
Cheney said the assaults changed him, making him become determined on retribution. Together with other neo-cons, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a invasion of Afghanistan in an endeavor to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then pressed fiercely for the armed intervention of Iraq, though there was little proof of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Disputed Decisions
He showed no remorse about the invasion, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis died, nor about the enhanced interrogation of detainees rounded up after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was founded on inaccurate intelligence repeated by Cheney, was the proper path to take. "It represented the proper decision to do then. I was convinced then and I hold that view today."
But during that period, there were dissenting voices at a top tier about the poor management of Iraq. One of the administration's own representatives to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the post. "I saw, at a minimum," he wrote later "clear negligence, inaction, and irresponsibility: in the worst case, lying, ineptitude, and graft."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not entirely to blame for the Iraq campaign. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for such action. He had composed a memorandum outlining circumstances in which national priorities might be endangered (including "access to crucial commodities, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "the United States should be prepared to operate alone when cooperative measures cannot be arranged," particularly referencing defense operations against Iraq.
Bush too had arrived in the White House vaguely intent on implementing what his predecessor had famously refused to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. Following he had been dismissed by the White House, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the first meeting of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his intention of reducing America's engagement in the regional tensions and suggested armed intervention against Iraq.
Bush bore a individual resentment against Saddam, convinced he had been involved in a conspiracy to murder his father, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore resented that one of the biggest hotels in Baghdad had a ground design with a image of his father's face that everyone had to tread upon.
Interrogation Methods
Yet it was Cheney who was part of the most vehement advocating attacking Iraq, repeatedly quoting agency briefings that were both insubstantial or entirely inaccurate. He backed what the Bush government euphemistically referred to as "advanced techniques", the application of interrogation method and harsh treatment.
Answering a Senate analysis in 2014 that determined that no actionable intelligence had resulted from the harsh techniques, Cheney disregarded the findings as "riddled with crap". He told Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to take steps and establish programmes to apprehend the individuals who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it would not recur. That is precisely what they did and they earn a lot of credit."
Public Image
Cheney took pleasure in labels assigned to him by opponents such as the Star Wars villain and the dark figure, and by the idea that he was a sinister influence directing Bush. In the journalist's 2013 volume about the pair, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is cited as commenting: "Am I the malevolent mastermind in the corner that remains unseen leave his domain? That is a advantageous way to work, truthfully."
Business Interests
Controversy over his business interests pursued him during his tenure as second-in-command. Even though he had limited background in corporate affairs but good contacts in military, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's largest petroleum conglomerates, in 1995 as chairman and top executive.
In 2000 he became Bush's election partner for the White House. Debatably, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was granted US contracts totaling billions.
It significantly boosted his finances. His yearly earnings during his tenure at the firm grew from his $258,394 during his time as defence secretary to over four million. When he resigned in 2000 he had a severance arrangement valued at more than $20m|twenty
