The former US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who died at age 84, was seen as one of the most influential incumbents of that office in the nation's history. Although numerous second-in-commands were confined to marginal or figurehead functions, Cheney exercised substantial sway during the presidency of George W Bush, so much so that he was often called as the "actual president".
Bush disliked that description and claimed the connection was more complicated. He pointed out that Cheney was deferential, always addressing him in public settings as Mr President, while he called him as Dick. Bush challenged even portrayals of their partnership as a partnership because it indicated that they were equals. Regardless of these denials, Cheney viewed the laidback president accommodating on a broad range of governmental choices.
A Post-9/11 Era
Leading of a group of neo-conservatives that included military head Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the invasion of Iraq in 2003 in reaction to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 strike, Bush had been attending a gathering at a educational institution in Florida. As Bush traveled to a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, ordering the shooting down of any unresponsive aircraft approaching the Capitol building.
Cheney claimed the assaults altered his perspective, making him become focused on retaliation. Together with other conservative figures, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a invasion of Afghanistan in an attempt to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the invasion of Iraq, although there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein having involvement.
Disputed Decisions
He voiced no apologies about the invasion, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, and not about the enhanced interrogation of individuals rounded up after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was based on faulty intelligence repeated by Cheney, was the proper course of action. "It represented the right thing to do then. I was convinced back then and I hold that view presently."
But even at the time, there were contrary opinions at a high level about the botched execution of Iraq. One of the government's own special envoys to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the post. "I witnessed, as a baseline," he later wrote "obvious failure, negligence, and recklessness: in the worst case, lying, ineptitude, and corruption."
Broader Context
Cheney was not completely accountable for the Iraq campaign. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for such action. He had composed a memo outlining situations in which US concerns might be compromised (encompassing "obtaining crucial commodities, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "America should be postured to take unilateral action when collective action cannot be orchestrated," specifically citing military moves against Iraq.
Bush too had arrived in the Oval Office generally inclined on carrying out what his parent had specifically avoided to do in 1991; topple Saddam. Following he had been sacked by the White House, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill disclosed how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had announced his intention of reducing America's involvement in the regional tensions and suggested defense operations against Iraq.
Bush bore a personal grudge against Saddam, thinking he had been responsible for a plot to assassinate his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He also disliked that one of the biggest establishments in Baghdad had a ground design with a image of his parent's countenance that everyone had to step on.
Questioning Techniques
However it was Cheney who was one of the most outspoken advocating invading Iraq, frequently citing information documents that were both thin or completely misleading. He supported what the Bush White House indirectly described as "advanced techniques", the application of interrogation method and harsh treatment.
Addressing a Senate analysis in 2014 that found that no actionable intelligence had been obtained through the torture, Cheney dismissed the findings as "full of crap". He told Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to implement measures and create programmes to catch the bastards who took the lives of 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it never happened again. That's exactly what they did and they earn a lot of praise."
External Perception
Cheney reveled in nicknames imposed on him by critics such as Darth Vader and the dark figure, and by the notion that he was a shadow power directing Bush. In Peter Baker's 2013 publication about the pair, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is quoted as saying: "Is it me who is the evil genius in the corner that operates invisibly emerge from his hole? This represents a nice way to function, actually."
Business Interests
Controversy over his corporate affiliations pursued him throughout his time as vice-president. Even though he had minimal expertise in corporate affairs but established relationships in security, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial energy conglomerates, in 1995 as leader and CEO.
In 2000 he was selected as Bush's election partner for the White House. Debatably, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was given US deals valued at substantial sums.
It significantly boosted his finances. His annual income during his tenure at the corporation grew from his $258,394 during his time as defence secretary to over four million. When he resigned in 2000 he had a compensation package totaling over $20m|twenty
