The former US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who passed away at age 84, was seen as arguably the most influential occupants of that office in the nation's history. Although countless second-in-commands had to settle for marginal or figurehead positions, Cheney held enormous influence during the presidency of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was commonly called as the "real president".
Bush disliked this portrayal and claimed the dynamic was more complicated. He pointed out that Cheney was respectful, always calling him in public as President, while he called him as Dick. Bush questioned even characterisations of their relationship as a team because it indicated that they were peers. Regardless of such protestations, Cheney viewed the easygoing president pliable on a whole raft of governmental choices.
A Period Following the Attacks
Leading of a group of neo-cons that included defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the military intervention of Iraq in 2003 in reaction to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. During of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been attending a session at a elementary school in Florida. Whereas Bush headed for a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney took command, directing the shooting down of any unresponsive airplanes approaching the US Capitol.
Cheney said the assaults changed him, making him become focused on retribution. Along with other neo-conservatives, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a invasion of Afghanistan in an attempt to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the invasion of Iraq, though there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Controversial Policies
He showed no remorse about the military campaign, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, or about the harsh treatment of suspects apprehended after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was founded on inaccurate reports echoed by Cheney, was the correct course of action. "It represented the right thing to do back then. I believed it then and I maintain that stance today."
But during that period, there were opposing views at a top tier 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 post. "I observed, as a baseline," he subsequently stated "true dereliction, carelessness, and unaccountability: at worst, deception, incompetence, and corruption."
Broader Context
Cheney was not solely responsible for the Iraq invasion. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for similar measures. He had drafted a memo detailing situations in which American interests might be threatened (including "access to crucial commodities, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "America should be prepared to take unilateral action when cooperative measures prove impossible," specifically referencing military moves against Iraq.
Bush too had arrived in the White House somewhat determined on implementing what his predecessor had notably declined to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. After he had been dismissed by the White House, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill disclosed how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had announced his objective of reducing America's engagement in the regional tensions and mooted defense operations against Iraq.
Bush held a private grievance against Saddam, thinking he had been responsible for a scheme to assassinate his father, 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 portrait of his parent's countenance that everyone had to walk over.
Investigation Approaches
However it was Cheney who was one of the most vehement behind attacking Iraq, frequently citing agency briefings that were either weak or totally inaccurate. He endorsed what the Bush White House indirectly described as "enhanced interrogation", the employment of waterboarding and physical pressure.
Answering a Senate document in 2014 that determined that no useful information had been obtained through the torture, Cheney disregarded the report as "full of crap". He stated to Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to implement measures and establish programmes to apprehend the perpetrators who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it would not recur. That is precisely what they did and they earn a lot of credit."
Public Image
Cheney reveled in labels given to him by detractors such as the dark character and the sinister presence, and by the concept 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: "Do I represent the malevolent mastermind in the shadows that nobody ever sees emerge from his lair? This represents a nice way to work, truthfully."
Corporate Connections
Controversy over his commercial relationships pursued him through his period as vice-president. While he had little experience in corporate affairs but strong connections in military, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial energy companies, in 1995 as chair and CEO.
In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's election partner for the executive branch. Debatably, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was awarded US contracts totaling multiple billions.
It greatly increased his wealth. His yearly earnings during his period at the corporation rose from his previous salary during his time as Pentagon chief to over four million. When he departed in 2000 he had a compensation package totaling in excess of $20m|twenty
