The deceased US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who died at age 84, was seen as among the most powerful holders of that position in the nation's history. While countless second-in-commands had to settle for marginal or ceremonial roles, Cheney exercised substantial sway during the presidency of George W Bush, so much so that he was frequently referred to as the "actual president".
Bush disliked that description and said the dynamic was more nuanced. He observed that Cheney was courteous, consistently referring to him in official appearances as President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush challenged even descriptions of their association as a partnership because it indicated that they were equals. In spite of these denials, Cheney considered the easygoing president pliable on a whole raft of policy decisions.
A Post-9/11 Era
In charge of a contingent of conservative hawks that encompassed defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in reaction to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. At the time of the 9/11 assault, Bush had been participating in a meeting at a school in Florida. Whereas Bush traveled to a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, commanding the downing of any unresponsive airplanes approaching the Capitol building.
Cheney stated the attacks altered his perspective, leading him to become focused on retribution. In conjunction with other neo-conservatives, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a invasion of Afghanistan in an endeavor to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then pressed fiercely for the armed intervention of Iraq, though there was little proof of Saddam Hussein having involvement.
Disputed Policies
He showed no remorse about the armed intervention, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, nor about the harsh treatment of detainees captured after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was predicated on inaccurate reports repeated by Cheney, was the proper course of action. "It represented the correct action to do at that time. I believed it at the time and I hold that view presently."
Yet even at the time, there were opposing views at a senior level about the poor management of Iraq. One of the administration's own delegates to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the role. "I saw, at a minimum," he subsequently stated "clear negligence, carelessness, and irresponsibility: potentially, falsehoods, unfitness, and corruption."
Additional Factors
Cheney was not entirely accountable for the Iraq campaign. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for similar measures. He had composed a document detailing situations in which national priorities might be endangered (featuring "access to vital raw materials, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "the US should be postured to take unilateral action when cooperative measures cannot be orchestrated," specifically referencing military moves against Iraq.
Bush also had assumed the Oval Office generally inclined on carrying out what his father had specifically avoided to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. After he had been dismissed by the president, the finance chief Paul O'Neill disclosed how, at the first meeting of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had announced his intention of diminishing America's involvement in the regional tensions and suggested defense operations against Iraq.
Bush carried a individual resentment against Saddam, thinking he had been involved in a plot to murder his father, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally disliked that one of the most prominent establishments in Baghdad had a ground design with a image of his predecessor's visage that each person had to tread upon.
Questioning Techniques
However it was Cheney who was among the most vehement behind attacking Iraq, frequently quoting information documents that were whether insubstantial or entirely deceptive. He backed what the Bush administration euphemistically referred to as "intensive questioning", the use of simulated drowning and physical pressure.
Answering 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 requested [the CIA] to implement measures and put in place initiatives to apprehend the individuals who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it never happened again. That is precisely what they did and they deserve a lot of credit."
Public Image
Cheney took pleasure in nicknames assigned to him by critics such as the dark character and the sinister presence, and by the idea that he was a dark force manipulating Bush. In the author's 2013 publication 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 background that nobody ever sees emerge from his lair? This represents a nice way to operate, truthfully."
Business Interests
Dispute over his business interests followed him throughout his time as VP. Even though he had little experience in business but strong connections in defence, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial energy conglomerates, in 1995 as chair and CEO.
In 2000 he was selected as Bush's election partner for the executive branch. Debatably, during the military campaign, Halliburton was given US deals worth substantial sums.
It made him rich. His yearly earnings during his tenure at the corporation increased from his quarter-million dollars during his time as Pentagon chief to millions. When he departed in 2000 he had a severance arrangement worth in excess of $20m|twenty
