The deceased US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who died at the age of 84, was regarded as among the most influential incumbents of that position in the nation's history. While many second-in-commands were confined to peripheral or symbolic positions, Cheney exercised huge sway during the administration of George W Bush, to the point that he was frequently called as the "true president".
Bush disliked that description and claimed the dynamic was more complicated. He observed that Cheney was deferential, invariably referring to him in public as the President, while he called him as Dick. Bush disputed even characterisations of their association as a partnership because it indicated that they were peers. Despite these denials, Cheney considered the laidback president accommodating on a whole raft of governmental choices.
A Post-9/11 Era
In charge of a faction of neo-conservatives that included military head Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the military intervention of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. At the time of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been attending a gathering at a educational institution in Florida. While Bush made his way to a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney took command, commanding the downing of any unidentified aircraft heading toward the government building.
Cheney said the attacks altered his perspective, leading him to become determined on retaliation. In conjunction with other neo-conservatives, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a invasion of Afghanistan in an effort to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then pressed fiercely for the armed intervention of Iraq, though there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein having involvement.
Disputed Policies
He voiced no apologies about the military campaign, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis died, nor about the waterboarding of individuals apprehended after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was based on inaccurate reports circulated by Cheney, was the correct decision. "It represented the right thing to do at that time. I was convinced at the time and I hold that view presently."
However during that period, there were contrary opinions at a top tier about the poor management of Iraq. One of the administration's own delegates 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 irresponsibility: potentially, falsehoods, ineptitude, and corruption."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not entirely accountable for the Iraq invasion. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for comparable steps. He had composed a document detailing scenarios in which national priorities might be threatened (featuring "obtaining crucial commodities, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "America should be prepared to operate alone when collective action cannot be orchestrated," specifically referencing defense operations against Iraq.
Bush too had entered the White House somewhat determined on executing what his predecessor had specifically avoided to do in 1991; topple Saddam. After he had been sacked by the White House, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill disclosed how, at the first meeting of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his objective of reducing America's participation in the Middle East dispute and suggested military action against Iraq.
Bush carried a individual resentment against Saddam, believing he had been behind a scheme to kill his father, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He also objected to that one of the largest hotels in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a likeness of his father's visage that each person had to step on.
Questioning Techniques
Yet it was Cheney who was part of the most vociferous advocating attacking Iraq, frequently quoting information documents that were either thin or completely misleading. He backed what the Bush government indirectly described as "intensive questioning", the employment of simulated drowning and physical pressure.
Answering a Senate report in 2014 that concluded that no valuable data had resulted from the torture, Cheney disregarded the conclusions as "loaded with crap". He informed Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to implement measures and establish initiatives to capture the bastards who took the lives of 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it would not recur. That's exactly what they did and they earn a lot of credit."
Public Persona
Cheney enjoyed labels assigned to him by critics such as the dark character and the sinister presence, and by the notion that he was a dark force manipulating Bush. In Peter Baker's 2013 book about the pair, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is cited as commenting: "Is it me who is the evil genius in the shadows that operates invisibly leave his hole? That is a effective way to function, truthfully."
Business Interests
Controversy over his business interests pursued him through his period as VP. While he had limited background in business but good contacts in defence, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's largest petroleum conglomerates, in 1995 as leader and chief executive.
In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's running mate for the White House. Contentiously, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was given US deals valued at multiple billions.
It greatly increased his wealth. His yearly earnings during his period at the company grew from his previous salary while military head to millions. When he departed in 2000 he had a package valued at in excess of $20m|twenty
