The deceased US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who died at the age of 84, was regarded as one of the most significant incumbents of the vice-presidency in the nation's history. Whereas numerous second-in-commands were limited to peripheral or ceremonial functions, Cheney exercised enormous sway during the term of George W Bush, to the point that he was frequently described as the "actual president".
Bush disliked that description and said the connection was more complicated. He noted that Cheney was deferential, consistently calling him in official appearances as Mr President, while he called him as Dick. Bush challenged even characterisations of their association as a collaboration because it implied that they were equals. Regardless of these objections, Cheney viewed the relaxed president pliable on a whole raft of policy decisions.
The Period Following the Attacks
Leading of a faction of neo-conservatives that encompassed Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the military intervention of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. At the time of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been taking part in a gathering at a elementary school in Florida. While Bush headed for a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, ordering the downing of any unidentified aircraft nearing the US Capitol.
Cheney stated the attacks changed him, making him become intent on revenge. In conjunction with other neo-cons, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a takeover of Afghanistan in an attempt to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then pressed fiercely for the invasion of Iraq, even though there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Disputed Policies
He expressed no regrets about the armed intervention, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, nor about the waterboarding of detainees apprehended after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was based on misleading reports echoed by Cheney, was the right course of action. "It was the proper decision to do then. I was convinced then and I believe it today."
However even then, there were opposing views at a senior level about the botched execution of Iraq. One of the White House's own special envoys to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the role. "I observed, at the very least," he subsequently stated "clear negligence, carelessness, and unaccountability: potentially, deception, unfitness, and graft."
Additional Factors
Cheney was not solely accountable for the Iraq military action. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for similar measures. He had composed a document outlining scenarios in which US concerns might be endangered (including "access to crucial commodities, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "the United States should be prepared to operate alone when joint efforts cannot be arranged," explicitly mentioning defense operations against Iraq.
Bush also had assumed the presidency vaguely intent on executing what his predecessor had notably declined to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. Subsequent to he had been sacked by the president, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill disclosed how, at the first meeting of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his plan of reducing America's participation in the regional tensions and mooted military action against Iraq.
Bush held a individual resentment against Saddam, believing he had been involved in a conspiracy to kill his parent, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He also disliked that one of the biggest establishments in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a portrait of his predecessor's countenance that each person had to step on.
Questioning Techniques
Yet it was Cheney who was part of the most vehement advocating invading Iraq, frequently referencing agency briefings that were both thin or completely inaccurate. He endorsed what the Bush White House politely called as "intensive questioning", the employment of simulated drowning and harsh treatment.
Answering a Senate analysis in 2014 that found that no actionable intelligence had come from the harsh techniques, Cheney dismissed the conclusions as "full of crap". He informed Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to establish protocols and establish initiatives to capture the bastards who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it would not recur. That was specifically what they did and they earn a lot of credit."
Public Persona
Cheney reveled in labels given to him by critics such as the dark character and the dark figure, and by the concept that he was a sinister influence manipulating Bush. In the journalist's 2013 publication about the two, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is quoted as saying: "Do I represent the evil genius in the shadows that operates invisibly leave his lair? This represents a advantageous way to work, truthfully."
Corporate Connections
Debate over his commercial relationships accompanied him during his tenure as second-in-command. While he had limited background in corporate affairs 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 CEO.
In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's VP candidate for the presidency. Debatably, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was given US deals totaling billions.
It greatly increased his wealth. His yearly compensation during his time at the firm grew from his previous salary while Pentagon chief to millions. When he departed in 2000 he had a compensation package valued at over $20m|twenty
