The deceased US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who passed away at age 84, was seen as one of the most significant incumbents of that office in American history. Although countless second-in-commands were limited to minor or ceremonial roles, Cheney exercised huge influence during the administration of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was frequently described as the "real president".
Bush resented such a characterisation and said the relationship was more nuanced. He observed that Cheney was deferential, consistently calling him in official appearances as the President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush questioned even characterisations of their relationship as a team because it suggested that they were on equal footing. Despite these objections, Cheney viewed the easygoing president malleable on a broad range of administrative determinations.
A Period Following the Attacks
Leading of a group of neo-cons that encompassed military head Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the invasion of Iraq in 2003 in reaction to the September 11th attacks on New York and Washington. At the time of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been attending a session at a educational institution in Florida. While Bush headed for a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, directing the downing of any unresponsive aircraft nearing the Capitol building.
Cheney stated the attacks altered his perspective, leading him to become intent on retribution. Along with other neo-conservatives, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a invasion of Afghanistan in an endeavor to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then pressed fiercely for the armed intervention of Iraq, even though there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein playing a role.
Debated Decisions
He expressed no regrets about the invasion, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis perished, and not about the harsh treatment of suspects captured after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was based on inaccurate information repeated by Cheney, was the correct course of action. "It was the right thing to do at that time. I had faith back then and I hold that view today."
Yet even at the time, there were dissenting voices at a senior level about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the government's own special envoys to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the position. "I observed, as a baseline," he wrote later "clear negligence, negligence, and unaccountability: potentially, lying, ineptitude, and dishonesty."
Broader Context
Cheney was not completely responsible for the Iraq campaign. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for similar measures. He had composed a memorandum setting out situations in which US concerns might be threatened (including "availability of essential resources, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "America should be positioned to take unilateral action when collective action prove impossible," particularly citing defense operations against Iraq.
Bush additionally had assumed the White House vaguely intent on executing what his parent had specifically avoided to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. After he had been sacked by the president, the finance chief Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had announced his intention of reducing America's engagement in the regional tensions and suggested defense operations against Iraq.
Bush held a individual resentment against Saddam, believing he had been involved in a scheme to assassinate his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally disliked that one of the biggest accommodations in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a image of his parent's visage that everyone had to walk over.
Investigation Approaches
However it was Cheney who was among the most vociferous advocating striking Iraq, repeatedly quoting intelligence reports that were both thin or totally deceptive. He backed what the Bush administration euphemistically referred to as "enhanced interrogation", the employment of interrogation method and harsh treatment.
Answering a Senate analysis in 2014 that concluded that no useful information had come from the interrogation methods, Cheney rejected the report as "loaded with crap". He told Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to establish protocols and create initiatives to capture the individuals who took the lives of 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it was not repeated. That is precisely what they did and they deserve a lot of credit."
External Perception
Cheney enjoyed monikers imposed on him by detractors such as Darth Vader and The Prince of Darkness, and by the concept that he was a shadow power manipulating Bush. In the author's 2013 publication about the two, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is reported as stating: "Am I the evil genius in the background that nobody ever sees leave his domain? This represents a advantageous way to operate, in fact."
Corporate Connections
Dispute over his business interests accompanied him throughout his time as vice-president. While he had limited background in business but strong connections in defence, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's biggest energy companies, in 1995 as chairman and CEO.
In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's VP candidate for the presidency. Debatably, during the military campaign, Halliburton was granted US agreements totaling billions.
It significantly boosted his finances. His annual income during his tenure at the company rose from his previous salary when he was defence secretary to over four million. When he left in 2000 he had a compensation package valued at over $20m|twenty
