The late US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who died at the age of 84, was regarded as among the most powerful incumbents of that office in American history. While many second-in-commands were confined to peripheral or figurehead roles, Cheney held enormous sway during the term of George W Bush, to the point that he was commonly referred to as the "real president".
Bush resented this portrayal and claimed the dynamic was more complex. He noted that Cheney was respectful, always calling him in public settings as Mr President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush challenged even portrayals of their relationship as a partnership because it suggested that they were equals. Regardless of these objections, Cheney found the laidback president pliable on a broad range of administrative determinations.
A Post-9/11 Era
In charge of a faction of neo-conservatives that featured Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the military intervention of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 assault, Bush had been participating in a gathering at a elementary school in Florida. As Bush traveled to a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, ordering the destruction of any unresponsive planes nearing the government building.
Cheney said the assaults transformed him, making him become focused on retribution. Along with other neo-cons, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a invasion of Afghanistan in an effort to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the military action of Iraq, even though there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein having involvement.
Debated Actions
He voiced no apologies about the military campaign, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis perished, nor about the waterboarding of individuals rounded up after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was founded on misleading reports circulated by Cheney, was the proper path to take. "It was the right thing to do at that time. I had faith at the time and I hold that view now."
But during that period, there were dissenting voices at a high level about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the administration's own special envoys to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the role. "I saw, at a minimum," he subsequently stated "true dereliction, inaction, and unaccountability: at worst, deception, unfitness, and corruption."
Additional Factors
Cheney was not completely to blame for the Iraq military action. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for such action. He had composed a document outlining scenarios in which US concerns might be compromised (featuring "availability of crucial commodities, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "America should be positioned to operate alone when joint efforts cannot be orchestrated," explicitly citing military moves against Iraq.
Bush also had arrived in the White House generally inclined on executing what his father had specifically avoided to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. Following he had been dismissed by the president, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill disclosed how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his intention of reducing America's participation in the Middle East dispute and suggested defense operations against Iraq.
Bush bore a individual resentment against Saddam, convinced he had been behind a plot to murder his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally resented that one of the most prominent establishments in Baghdad had a ground design with a image of his father's countenance that all visitors had to walk over.
Investigation Approaches
However it was Cheney who was among the most vociferous behind invading Iraq, repeatedly quoting information documents that were either weak or totally misleading. He endorsed what the Bush government euphemistically referred to as "enhanced interrogation", the application of interrogation method and torture.
Answering a Senate report in 2014 that concluded that no actionable intelligence had come from the harsh techniques, Cheney disregarded the conclusions as "loaded with crap". He stated to Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to implement measures and put in place programmes to catch the bastards who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it was not repeated. That's exactly what they did and they earn a lot of praise."
Public Image
Cheney reveled in labels given to him by critics such as the Star Wars villain and the sinister presence, and by the notion that he was a sinister influence manipulating Bush. In the journalist's 2013 book about the duo, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is quoted as saying: "Is it me who is the malevolent mastermind in the background that operates invisibly emerge from his hole? That is a advantageous way to work, actually."
Business Interests
Dispute over his business interests accompanied him through his period as second-in-command. Even though he had little experience in business but established relationships in military, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial petroleum conglomerates, in 1995 as leader and top executive.
In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's election partner for the White House. Contentiously, during the military campaign, Halliburton was given US agreements valued at multiple billions.
It made him rich. His yearly compensation during his time at the company grew from his $258,394 when he was defence secretary to millions. When he departed in 2000 he had a severance arrangement worth in excess of $20m|twenty
