The deceased US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who passed away at age 84, was considered one of the most significant incumbents of that office in American history. Although many second-in-commands had to settle for marginal or figurehead roles, Cheney exercised huge sway during the presidency of George W Bush, so much so that he was often referred to as the "real president".
Bush objected to this portrayal and claimed the connection was more complicated. He noted that Cheney was courteous, consistently referring to him in official appearances as President, while he called him as Dick. Bush challenged even portrayals of their partnership as a team because it suggested that they were equals. In spite of such protestations, Cheney found the laidback president accommodating on a wide array of governmental choices.
A Aftermath of 9/11
At the head of a faction of neo-cons that included defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the September 11th attacks on New York and Washington. During of the 9/11 strike, Bush had been participating in a session at a elementary school in Florida. Whereas Bush traveled to a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney took command, commanding the shooting down of any non-communicating aircraft heading toward the Capitol building.
Cheney said the strikes transformed him, leading him to become determined on retribution. Along with other neo-conservatives, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a invasion of Afghanistan in an attempt to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then pressed fiercely for the armed intervention of Iraq, although there was little proof of Saddam Hussein playing a role.
Debated Decisions
He showed no remorse about the armed intervention, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, and not about the waterboarding of detainees rounded up after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was predicated on misleading information echoed by Cheney, was the proper course of action. "It proved to be the proper decision to do back then. I was convinced then and I believe it presently."
But during that period, there were opposing views at a high level about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the administration's own delegates to the Middle East, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the post. "I observed, at a minimum," he later wrote "obvious failure, carelessness, and unaccountability: at worst, deception, ineptitude, and dishonesty."
Broader Context
Cheney was not completely accountable for the Iraq invasion. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for such action. He had composed a document setting out circumstances in which American interests might be threatened (including "access to crucial commodities, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "America should be postured to act independently when joint efforts prove impossible," specifically citing military moves against Iraq.
Bush additionally had arrived in the Oval Office vaguely intent on carrying out what his father had specifically avoided to do in 1991; topple Saddam. Subsequent to he had been fired by the White House, the finance chief Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his intention of lowering America's involvement in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and suggested military action against Iraq.
Bush bore a personal grudge against Saddam, thinking he had been behind a conspiracy to kill his father, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore disliked that one of the most prominent establishments in Baghdad had a ground design with a likeness of his predecessor's face that all visitors had to step on.
Interrogation Methods
Yet it was Cheney who was one of the most vociferous advocating attacking Iraq, frequently citing agency briefings that were both weak or totally deceptive. He endorsed what the Bush government politely called as "advanced techniques", the application of simulated drowning and physical pressure.
Answering a Senate analysis in 2014 that found that no valuable data had been obtained through the torture, Cheney dismissed the report as "riddled with crap". He told Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to establish protocols and establish programmes to apprehend the bastards who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it never happened again. That's exactly what they did and they deserve a lot of praise."
External Perception
Cheney reveled in monikers imposed on him by opponents such as Darth Vader and The Prince of Darkness, and by the notion that he was a dark force controlling Bush. In the journalist's 2013 book about the two, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is quoted as saying: "Is it me who is the malevolent mastermind in the shadows that nobody ever sees leave his hole? That is a advantageous way to operate, truthfully."
Corporate Connections
Debate over his business interests accompanied him throughout his time as VP. While he had limited background in commerce but strong connections in military, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial oil and gas conglomerates, in 1995 as leader and CEO.
In 2000 he was selected as Bush's running mate for the executive branch. Controversially, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was granted US deals valued at billions.
It greatly increased his wealth. His yearly earnings during his time at the firm increased from his previous salary when he was Pentagon chief to millions. When he resigned in 2000 he had a package worth more than $20m|twenty
