The deceased US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who died at age 84, was seen as arguably the most significant incumbents of that office in US history. While many second-in-commands were limited to minor or figurehead positions, Cheney wielded huge influence during the term of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was frequently referred to as the "true president".
Bush objected to this portrayal and stated the relationship was more complex. He noted that Cheney was respectful, consistently calling him in official appearances as the President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush disputed even descriptions of their association as a partnership because it indicated that they were peers. In spite of such protestations, Cheney considered the easygoing president malleable on a broad range of administrative determinations.
The Period Following the Attacks
In charge of a group of conservative hawks that encompassed defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the invasion of Iraq in 2003 in response to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been participating in a gathering at a elementary school in Florida. As Bush headed for a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney took command, ordering the shooting down of any unresponsive airplanes heading toward the government building.
Cheney claimed the assaults changed him, causing him to be intent on retribution. Along with other neo-conservatives, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a occupation of Afghanistan in an endeavor to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the armed intervention of Iraq, although there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein playing a role.
Debated Decisions
He showed no remorse about the armed intervention, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis perished, and not about the waterboarding of detainees captured after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was based on misleading intelligence circulated by Cheney, was the correct decision. "It proved to be the proper decision to do then. I was convinced back then and I believe it today."
Yet during that period, there were dissenting voices at a top tier about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the government's own special envoys to the Middle East, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the post. "I observed, as a baseline," he later wrote "true dereliction, carelessness, and irresponsibility: in the worst case, falsehoods, ineptitude, and dishonesty."
Broader Context
Cheney was not solely to blame for the Iraq campaign. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for similar measures. He had composed a document detailing situations in which American interests might be endangered (including "availability of crucial commodities, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "the US should be prepared to take unilateral action when cooperative measures prove impossible," particularly mentioning military moves against Iraq.
Bush additionally had assumed the Oval Office generally inclined on implementing what his parent had notably declined to do in 1991; topple Saddam. Subsequent to he had been dismissed by the White House, the finance chief Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the first meeting of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his intention of reducing America's participation in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and proposed armed intervention against Iraq.
Bush held a personal grudge against Saddam, believing he had been involved in a conspiracy to kill his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally objected to that one of the most prominent establishments in Baghdad had a ground design with a portrait of his father's countenance that each person had to tread upon.
Interrogation Methods
But it was Cheney who was part of the most vociferous advocating invading Iraq, consistently referencing agency briefings that were both insubstantial or totally misleading. He supported what the Bush administration euphemistically referred to as "intensive questioning", the use of simulated drowning and physical pressure.
Addressing a Senate document in 2014 that concluded that no useful information had been obtained through the harsh techniques, Cheney rejected the conclusions as "full of crap". He informed Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to establish protocols and put in place procedures to catch the individuals who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it never happened again. That's exactly what they did and they deserve a lot of recognition."
Public Image
Cheney reveled in monikers imposed on him by critics such as Darth Vader and the sinister presence, and by the idea that he was a dark force manipulating Bush. In the journalist's 2013 volume about the pair, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is reported as stating: "Do I represent the sinister strategist in the corner that remains unseen leave his domain? It's a nice way to function, actually."
Business Interests
Dispute over his business interests pursued him throughout his time as second-in-command. While he had little experience in commerce but good contacts in security, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's largest petroleum conglomerates, in 1995 as chairman and chief executive.
In 2000 he became Bush's running mate for the executive branch. Controversially, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was awarded US contracts totaling billions.
It significantly boosted his finances. His annual income during his time at the corporation rose from his $258,394 during his time as Pentagon chief to over four million. When he left in 2000 he had a compensation package worth over $20m|twenty
