The deceased US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who passed away at age 84, was regarded as among the most influential holders of the vice-presidency in US history. While countless second-in-commands were confined to marginal or symbolic positions, Cheney held substantial influence during the administration of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was frequently described as the "real president".
Bush objected to that description and stated the dynamic was more nuanced. He noted that Cheney was respectful, always addressing him in official appearances as the President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush challenged even descriptions of their association as a collaboration because it implied that they were peers. In spite of these objections, Cheney found the easygoing president pliable on a wide array of governmental choices.
The Aftermath of 9/11
In charge of a group of neo-cons that featured military head Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the military intervention of Iraq in 2003 in reaction to the September 11th attacks on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 assault, Bush had been attending a session at a educational institution in Florida. While Bush made his way to a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney took command, commanding the downing of any unresponsive planes nearing the government building.
Cheney stated the strikes transformed him, leading him to become intent on retribution. Along with other neo-cons, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a invasion of Afghanistan in an attempt to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the military action of Iraq, though there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein playing a role.
Controversial Actions
He voiced no apologies about the armed intervention, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis died, nor about the enhanced interrogation of detainees captured after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was predicated on inaccurate information echoed by Cheney, was the correct decision. "It represented the correct action to do then. I was convinced at the time and I believe it today."
Yet even at the time, there were opposing views at a senior level about the poor management of Iraq. One of the White House's own delegates to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the post. "I saw, at a minimum," he subsequently stated "clear negligence, inaction, and unaccountability: at worst, lying, incompetence, and corruption."
Broader Context
Cheney was not entirely to blame for the Iraq invasion. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for comparable steps. He had drafted a document detailing circumstances in which US concerns might be compromised (encompassing "obtaining essential resources, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "the United States should be positioned to take unilateral action when joint efforts prove impossible," specifically referencing military moves against Iraq.
Bush additionally had assumed the Oval Office vaguely intent on implementing what his predecessor had famously refused to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. Subsequent to he had been dismissed by the White House, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had announced his objective of diminishing America's involvement in the Middle East dispute and suggested defense operations against Iraq.
Bush held a personal grudge against Saddam, believing he had been involved in a conspiracy to assassinate his parent, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore resented that one of the largest accommodations in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a portrait of his predecessor's face that all visitors had to walk over.
Questioning Techniques
Yet it was Cheney who was one of the most outspoken behind attacking Iraq, frequently quoting intelligence reports that were both insubstantial or entirely misleading. He endorsed what the Bush administration politely called as "intensive questioning", the application of interrogation method and physical pressure.
Responding to a Senate analysis in 2014 that determined that no actionable intelligence had been obtained through the harsh techniques, Cheney rejected the conclusions as "riddled with crap". He informed Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to implement measures and create initiatives to catch the individuals who took the lives of 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it never happened again. That is precisely what they did and they deserve a lot of recognition."
Public Persona
Cheney took pleasure in nicknames assigned to him by opponents such as Darth Vader and the sinister presence, and by the idea that he was a dark force controlling Bush. In the author's 2013 book about the two, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is reported as stating: "Am I the evil genius in the background that operates invisibly come out of his hole? It's a nice way to operate, in fact."
Commercial Ties
Controversy over his corporate affiliations followed him during his tenure as vice-president. Even though he had minimal expertise in business but established relationships in security, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial oil and gas conglomerates, in 1995 as chairman and top executive.
In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's running mate for the presidency. Debatably, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was granted US agreements worth multiple billions.
It made him rich. His yearly earnings during his time at the company grew from his quarter-million dollars during his time as Pentagon chief to over four million. When he departed in 2000 he had a severance arrangement worth more than $20m|twenty
