The late US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who died at the age of 84, was considered one of the most powerful holders of that position in US history. While numerous second-in-commands had to settle for minor or symbolic functions, Cheney exercised enormous sway during the administration of George W Bush, to the point that he was frequently referred to as the "true president".
Bush resented such a characterisation and claimed the relationship was more nuanced. He pointed out that Cheney was courteous, invariably addressing him in official appearances as President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush disputed even portrayals of their relationship as a partnership because it suggested that they were peers. Despite such protestations, Cheney viewed the easygoing president accommodating on a whole raft of administrative determinations.
A Post-9/11 Era
At the head of a faction of conservative hawks that encompassed Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the military intervention of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the September 11th attacks on New York and Washington. At the time of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been taking part in a meeting at a school in Florida. Whereas Bush headed for a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, commanding the destruction of any non-communicating aircraft approaching the government building.
Cheney stated the assaults altered his perspective, making him become focused on revenge. In conjunction with other conservative figures, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a takeover of Afghanistan in an endeavor to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then pressed fiercely for the invasion of Iraq, although there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein having involvement.
Debated Actions
He expressed no regrets about the armed intervention, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis perished, and not about the harsh treatment of individuals captured after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was predicated on inaccurate intelligence circulated by Cheney, was the proper path to take. "It was the proper decision to do then. I had faith at the time and I hold that view now."
However even at the time, there were dissenting voices at a top tier 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 post. "I saw, as a baseline," he later wrote "clear negligence, negligence, and irresponsibility: in the worst case, lying, incompetence, and corruption."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not entirely accountable for the Iraq invasion. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for similar measures. He had drafted a memorandum outlining scenarios in which US concerns might be endangered (featuring "access to essential resources, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "America should be prepared to operate alone when cooperative measures cannot be orchestrated," particularly mentioning military moves against Iraq.
Bush additionally had entered the Oval Office generally inclined on executing what his predecessor had notably declined to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. Subsequent to he had been sacked by the administration, the finance chief Paul O'Neill disclosed how, at the first meeting of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his plan of lowering America's participation in the Middle East dispute and suggested armed intervention against Iraq.
Bush carried a individual resentment against Saddam, convinced he had been behind a scheme to assassinate his parent, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He also objected to that one of the biggest hotels in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a image of his father's countenance that all visitors had to tread upon.
Investigation Approaches
But it was Cheney who was among the most outspoken advocating attacking Iraq, frequently citing intelligence reports that were whether thin or entirely misleading. He backed what the Bush White House euphemistically referred to as "intensive questioning", the application of interrogation method and harsh treatment.
Answering a Senate analysis in 2014 that found that no valuable data had come from the torture, Cheney disregarded the report as "loaded with crap". He stated to Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to implement measures and create procedures to apprehend the individuals who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it would not recur. That was specifically what they did and they earn a lot of credit."
External Perception
Cheney reveled in labels assigned to him by detractors such as the dark character and The Prince of Darkness, and by the idea that he was a shadow power directing 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 sinister strategist in the background that nobody ever sees leave his lair? That is a effective way to operate, truthfully."
Business Interests
Dispute over his commercial relationships accompanied him throughout his time as VP. Although he had limited background in business but strong connections in security, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's largest oil and gas corporations, in 1995 as leader and chief executive.
In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's election partner for the White House. Contentiously, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was given US contracts totaling substantial sums.
It significantly boosted his finances. His yearly earnings during his period at the corporation grew from his $258,394 when he was military head to over four million. When he resigned in 2000 he had a severance arrangement worth over $20m|twenty
