The late US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who died at age 84, was considered one of the most influential occupants of the vice-presidency in American history. While countless second-in-commands were limited to marginal or figurehead roles, Cheney wielded enormous influence during the administration of George W Bush, to the point that he was often called as the "real president".
Bush resented that description and claimed the dynamic was more complex. He observed that Cheney was courteous, always addressing him in public settings as the President, while he called him as Dick. Bush challenged even portrayals of their relationship as a partnership because it suggested that they were peers. Regardless of such protestations, Cheney viewed the easygoing president malleable on a broad range of administrative determinations.
A Period Following the Attacks
In charge of a contingent of neo-conservatives that featured military head Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the military intervention of Iraq in 2003 in reaction to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. At the time of the 9/11 strike, Bush had been attending a gathering at a elementary school in Florida. While Bush traveled to a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, ordering the downing of any unidentified aircraft approaching the Capitol building.
Cheney said the strikes transformed him, making him become determined on revenge. Together with other neo-conservatives, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a takeover of Afghanistan in an endeavor to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the military action of Iraq, although there was little proof of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Controversial Policies
He voiced no apologies about the armed intervention, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis perished, nor about the enhanced interrogation of individuals rounded up after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was predicated on misleading information circulated by Cheney, was the correct decision. "It proved to be the right thing to do at that time. I was convinced back then and I maintain that stance now."
Yet even then, there were dissenting voices at a senior level about the botched execution of Iraq. One of the White House's own delegates to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the position. "I saw, as a baseline," he subsequently stated "clear negligence, negligence, and unaccountability: potentially, falsehoods, incompetence, and dishonesty."
Broader Context
Cheney was not completely accountable for the Iraq invasion. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for similar measures. He had written a memo setting out situations in which American interests might be endangered (encompassing "obtaining crucial commodities, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "America should be positioned to operate alone when cooperative measures cannot be arranged," specifically referencing military moves against Iraq.
Bush too had arrived in the Oval Office generally inclined on carrying out what his predecessor had specifically avoided to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. Subsequent to he had been dismissed by the president, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had announced his objective of reducing America's involvement in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and proposed armed intervention against Iraq.
Bush bore a individual resentment against Saddam, thinking he had been responsible for a plot to assassinate his father, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally objected to that one of the biggest hotels in Baghdad had a ground design with a portrait of his father's countenance that each person had to tread upon.
Questioning Techniques
However it was Cheney who was among the most vociferous supporting striking Iraq, repeatedly quoting agency briefings that were both weak or entirely misleading. He supported what the Bush White House indirectly described as "enhanced interrogation", the application of simulated drowning and physical pressure.
Addressing a Senate report in 2014 that determined that no actionable intelligence had been obtained through the harsh techniques, Cheney disregarded the conclusions as "riddled with crap". He informed Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to take steps and put in place procedures to catch the individuals who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it was not repeated. That was specifically what they did and they merit a lot of praise."
Public Persona
Cheney enjoyed nicknames assigned to him by detractors such as Darth Vader and the dark figure, and by the idea that he was a dark force directing Bush. In the journalist's 2013 book about the two, 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 background that operates invisibly come out of his domain? This represents a advantageous way to operate, in fact."
Business Interests
Controversy over his corporate affiliations pursued him during his tenure as vice-president. Although he had limited background in corporate affairs but strong connections in security, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's biggest energy corporations, in 1995 as leader and chief executive.
In 2000 he was selected as Bush's election partner for the executive branch. Debatably, during the military campaign, Halliburton was awarded US agreements totaling billions.
It made him rich. His yearly earnings during his period at the firm rose from his quarter-million dollars during his time as defence secretary to $4.4m. When he departed in 2000 he had a package valued at over $20m|twenty
