The late US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who passed away at the age of 84, was regarded as among the most powerful occupants of that position in the nation's history. Although many second-in-commands were confined to marginal or figurehead functions, Cheney wielded enormous sway during the term of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was often described as the "actual president".
Bush disliked such a characterisation and claimed the relationship was more nuanced. He pointed out that Cheney was deferential, invariably calling him in official appearances as President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush challenged even portrayals of their relationship as a collaboration because it suggested that they were peers. Despite these denials, Cheney considered the easygoing president pliable on a whole raft of administrative determinations.
The Period Following the Attacks
At the head of a group of neo-cons that encompassed Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the invasion of Iraq in 2003 in response to the September 11th attacks on New York and Washington. During of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been participating in a session at a elementary school in Florida. Whereas Bush headed for a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, directing the destruction of any unidentified aircraft heading toward the Capitol building.
Cheney stated the attacks changed him, leading him to become determined on retribution. Together with other conservative figures, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a takeover of Afghanistan in an attempt to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the invasion of Iraq, even though there was little proof of Saddam Hussein playing a role.
Controversial Policies
He expressed no regrets about the military campaign, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, nor about the waterboarding of individuals apprehended after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was based on misleading intelligence circulated by Cheney, was the right decision. "It represented the correct action to do then. I had faith then and I maintain that stance today."
Yet even at the time, there were contrary opinions at a high level about the poor management of Iraq. One of the government's own special envoys to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the position. "I observed, as a baseline," he later wrote "true dereliction, carelessness, and recklessness: at worst, falsehoods, incompetence, and corruption."
Broader Context
Cheney was not entirely to blame for the Iraq military action. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for such action. He had drafted a memo setting out scenarios in which American interests might be endangered (featuring "obtaining crucial commodities, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "the US should be prepared to act independently when cooperative measures prove impossible," particularly referencing defense operations against Iraq.
Bush additionally had entered the presidency generally inclined on executing what his parent had specifically avoided to do in 1991; topple Saddam. Subsequent to he had been sacked by the administration, the finance chief Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his plan of reducing America's involvement in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and proposed armed intervention against Iraq.
Bush bore a individual resentment against Saddam, believing he had been behind a scheme to assassinate his father, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He also objected to that one of the most prominent establishments in Baghdad had a floor mural with a image of his father's face that everyone had to tread upon.
Questioning Techniques
However it was Cheney who was one of the most vociferous advocating invading Iraq, consistently referencing information documents that were whether weak or completely deceptive. He backed what the Bush government politely called as "intensive questioning", the application of simulated drowning and physical pressure.
Addressing a Senate document in 2014 that concluded that no useful information had resulted from the interrogation methods, Cheney disregarded the report as "riddled with crap". He stated to Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to establish protocols and establish initiatives to capture the bastards who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it was not repeated. That's exactly what they did and they deserve a lot of praise."
Public Image
Cheney reveled in monikers given to him by critics such as Darth Vader and The Prince of Darkness, and by the concept that he was a shadow power manipulating 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 come out of his domain? This represents a advantageous way to function, in fact."
Business Interests
Debate over his corporate affiliations pursued him during his tenure as second-in-command. While he had minimal expertise in business but established relationships in military, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's biggest energy conglomerates, in 1995 as leader and top executive.
In 2000 he became Bush's election partner for the presidency. Controversially, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was granted US contracts valued at billions.
It significantly boosted his finances. His annual income during his time at the firm grew from his $258,394 when he was defence secretary to millions. When he departed in 2000 he had a severance arrangement totaling more than $20m|twenty
