The former US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who died at age 84, was considered one of the most significant occupants of that position in US history. Whereas many second-in-commands had to settle for marginal or ceremonial functions, Cheney exercised enormous influence during the term of George W Bush, so much so that he was commonly described as the "real president".
Bush disliked this portrayal and stated the connection was more complicated. He noted that Cheney was deferential, invariably calling him in public settings as President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush disputed even descriptions of their relationship as a collaboration because it suggested that they were on equal footing. In spite of these denials, Cheney considered the laidback president accommodating on a wide array of governmental choices.
A Period Following the Attacks
At the head of a group of neo-cons that encompassed defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the military intervention of Iraq in 2003 in reaction to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. During of the 9/11 strike, Bush had been attending a session at a educational institution in Florida. As Bush headed for a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney took command, commanding the downing of any non-communicating aircraft nearing the Capitol building.
Cheney said the attacks altered his perspective, causing him to be focused on retribution. Along with other neo-cons, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a takeover of Afghanistan in an endeavor to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the military action of Iraq, although there was little proof of Saddam Hussein playing a role.
Controversial Policies
He voiced no apologies about the military campaign, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis perished, nor about the enhanced interrogation of individuals rounded up after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was predicated on misleading reports echoed by Cheney, was the right course of action. "It proved to be the right thing to do at that time. I was convinced at the time and I maintain that stance today."
However during that period, there were dissenting voices at a top tier about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the administration's own special envoys to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the role. "I witnessed, at a minimum," he wrote later "clear negligence, carelessness, and recklessness: potentially, deception, ineptitude, and dishonesty."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not completely accountable for the Iraq invasion. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for such action. He had composed a memorandum detailing circumstances in which American interests might be threatened (featuring "availability of crucial commodities, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "the United States should be positioned to take unilateral action when joint efforts prove impossible," explicitly mentioning defense operations against Iraq.
Bush additionally had entered the White House vaguely intent on carrying out what his father had notably declined to do in 1991; remove Saddam. Subsequent to he had been sacked by the administration, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his plan of lowering America's involvement in the Middle East dispute and suggested military action against Iraq.
Bush bore a individual resentment against Saddam, thinking he had been involved in a plot to kill his father, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He also disliked that one of the most prominent hotels in Baghdad had a ground design with a portrait of his parent's visage that all visitors had to walk over.
Investigation Approaches
But it was Cheney who was part of the most vehement advocating attacking Iraq, frequently citing agency briefings that were either insubstantial or totally misleading. He backed what the Bush administration indirectly described as "advanced techniques", the employment of simulated drowning and physical pressure.
Answering a Senate document in 2014 that determined that no actionable intelligence had been obtained through the torture, Cheney disregarded the conclusions as "full of crap". He stated to Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to take steps and put in place programmes to apprehend the bastards who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it would not recur. That's exactly what they did and they deserve a lot of praise."
External Perception
Cheney reveled in labels assigned to him by critics such as the Star Wars villain and The Prince of Darkness, and by the notion that he was a sinister influence 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: "Am I the sinister strategist in the shadows that remains unseen leave his domain? It's a advantageous way to operate, actually."
Corporate Connections
Controversy over his commercial relationships followed him throughout his time as second-in-command. Even though he had little experience in corporate affairs but strong connections in defence, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's largest energy companies, in 1995 as leader and top executive.
In 2000 he became Bush's running mate for the White House. Debatably, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was awarded US deals totaling substantial sums.
It made him rich. His yearly earnings during his time at the firm increased from his quarter-million dollars when he was defence secretary to $4.4m. When he resigned in 2000 he had a package totaling over $20m|twenty
