The late US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who died at the age of 84, was regarded as one of the most significant incumbents of that office in American history. While countless second-in-commands had to settle for minor or figurehead roles, Cheney held enormous influence during the term of George W Bush, to the point that he was frequently called as the "real president".
Bush disliked that description and stated the dynamic was more nuanced. He observed that Cheney was respectful, invariably addressing him in public as Mr President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush challenged even portrayals of their relationship as a collaboration because it suggested that they were peers. Despite these denials, Cheney viewed the laidback president pliable on a broad range of administrative determinations.
A Aftermath of 9/11
Leading of a group of neo-conservatives that featured military head Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the invasion of Iraq in 2003 in reaction to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 strike, Bush had been attending a meeting at a elementary school in Florida. While Bush made his way to a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, ordering the destruction of any unresponsive aircraft approaching the Capitol building.
Cheney said the strikes altered his perspective, leading him to become intent on retaliation. In conjunction with other neo-cons, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a invasion of Afghanistan in an effort to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then pressed fiercely for the invasion of Iraq, though there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein playing a role.
Controversial Actions
He voiced no apologies about the invasion, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis died, and not about the harsh treatment of suspects captured after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was founded on misleading reports circulated by Cheney, was the proper course of action. "It was the correct action to do at that time. I believed it back then and I maintain that stance presently."
Yet even at the time, there were dissenting voices at a top tier about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the government's own representatives to the Middle East, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the role. "I witnessed, at the very least," he wrote later "true dereliction, inaction, and recklessness: in the worst case, falsehoods, ineptitude, and corruption."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not completely accountable for the Iraq campaign. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for comparable steps. He had drafted a memorandum detailing situations in which American interests might be compromised (encompassing "obtaining crucial commodities, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "America should be positioned to act independently when cooperative measures cannot be orchestrated," explicitly citing armed actions against Iraq.
Bush also had entered the presidency generally inclined on implementing what his father had famously refused to do in 1991; remove Saddam. After he had been dismissed by the administration, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill disclosed how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his intention of lowering America's participation in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and proposed defense operations against Iraq.
Bush bore a individual resentment against Saddam, convinced he had been responsible for a conspiracy to kill his parent, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally objected to that one of the largest establishments in Baghdad had a floor mural with a likeness of his parent's countenance that all visitors had to tread upon.
Investigation Approaches
Yet it was Cheney who was among the most vociferous advocating striking Iraq, consistently citing intelligence reports that were either weak or entirely deceptive. He supported what the Bush government politely called as "advanced techniques", the use of simulated drowning and torture.
Responding to a Senate analysis in 2014 that determined that no actionable intelligence had been obtained through the harsh techniques, Cheney disregarded the conclusions as "loaded with crap". He told Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to establish protocols and put in place procedures to apprehend the individuals who took the lives of 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it never happened again. That is precisely what they did and they earn a lot of recognition."
Public Image
Cheney took pleasure in labels assigned to him by critics such as the dark character and The Prince of Darkness, and by the idea that he was a shadow power manipulating Bush. In the author's 2013 volume about the duo, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is cited as commenting: "Do I represent the sinister strategist in the background that nobody ever sees come out of his domain? That is a advantageous way to function, actually."
Commercial Ties
Debate over his business interests accompanied him throughout his time as VP. While he had limited background in commerce but established relationships in security, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's biggest petroleum conglomerates, in 1995 as chair and top executive.
In 2000 he became Bush's VP candidate for the presidency. Debatably, during the military campaign, Halliburton was granted US agreements totaling billions.
It significantly boosted his finances. His yearly compensation during his period at the corporation increased from his quarter-million dollars while military head to millions. When he resigned in 2000 he had a severance arrangement worth over $20m|twenty
