The former US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who passed away at the age of 84, was seen as one of the most influential occupants of that position in US history. While numerous second-in-commands had to settle for peripheral or figurehead positions, Cheney held substantial power during the administration of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was frequently referred to as the "actual president".
Bush objected to this portrayal and stated the connection was more complicated. He observed that Cheney was courteous, consistently calling him in public settings as President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush disputed even descriptions of their relationship as a collaboration because it implied that they were peers. Regardless of these denials, Cheney viewed the easygoing president malleable on a broad range of administrative determinations.
The Aftermath of 9/11
At the head of a faction of conservative hawks that included Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the military intervention of Iraq in 2003 in response to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. During of the 9/11 strike, Bush had been attending a session at a elementary school in Florida. While Bush traveled to a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, ordering the destruction of any unresponsive airplanes nearing the Capitol building.
Cheney said the attacks transformed him, leading him to become intent on retribution. In conjunction with other neo-cons, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a takeover of Afghanistan in an endeavor to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the invasion of Iraq, although there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Controversial Decisions
He voiced no apologies about the military campaign, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis perished, or about the waterboarding of detainees apprehended after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was predicated on faulty reports echoed by Cheney, was the proper path to take. "It proved to be the right thing to do then. I was convinced then and I hold that view now."
But during that period, there were opposing views at a senior level about the botched execution of Iraq. One of the government's own delegates to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the role. "I witnessed, at a minimum," he subsequently stated "clear negligence, inaction, and unaccountability: at worst, falsehoods, ineptitude, and graft."
Broader Context
Cheney was not completely to blame for the Iraq campaign. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for similar measures. He had composed a memo outlining situations in which national priorities might be endangered (including "obtaining vital raw materials, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "the US should be positioned to take unilateral action when joint efforts prove impossible," specifically citing armed actions against Iraq.
Bush too had arrived in the White House generally inclined on executing what his father had specifically avoided to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. Subsequent to he had been dismissed by the president, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill disclosed how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his objective of diminishing America's involvement in the Middle East dispute and mooted defense operations against Iraq.
Bush bore a individual resentment against Saddam, convinced he had been involved in a scheme to assassinate his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally disliked that one of the largest accommodations in Baghdad had a floor mural with a likeness of his father's face that each person had to step on.
Investigation Approaches
However it was Cheney who was one of the most vociferous supporting invading Iraq, frequently referencing information documents that were both weak or completely misleading. He supported what the Bush government indirectly described as "advanced techniques", the use of simulated drowning and harsh treatment.
Answering a Senate analysis in 2014 that found that no actionable intelligence had come from the torture, Cheney rejected the findings as "riddled with crap". He told Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to establish protocols and create programmes to catch the individuals who took the lives of 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it was not repeated. That's exactly what they did and they merit a lot of credit."
External Perception
Cheney enjoyed nicknames assigned to him by detractors such as the Star Wars villain and the dark figure, and by the notion that he was a sinister influence controlling Bush. In Peter Baker's 2013 volume about the duo, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is reported as stating: "Is it me who is the sinister strategist in the corner that remains unseen come out of his domain? That is a advantageous way to function, truthfully."
Business Interests
Debate over his commercial relationships pursued him throughout his time as vice-president. While he had little experience in corporate affairs but strong connections in security, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's biggest petroleum corporations, in 1995 as chair and CEO.
In 2000 he was selected as Bush's running mate for the executive branch. Controversially, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was awarded US contracts valued at multiple billions.
It significantly boosted his finances. His annual income during his time at the corporation increased from his previous salary during his time as military head to over four million. When he departed in 2000 he had a severance arrangement totaling in excess of $20m|twenty
