The deceased US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who died at the age of 84, was considered arguably the most powerful occupants of that position in US history. While countless second-in-commands were confined to peripheral or symbolic positions, Cheney exercised substantial sway during the administration of George W Bush, to the point that he was often called as the "actual president".
Bush disliked this portrayal and said the connection was more complicated. He noted that Cheney was respectful, invariably addressing him in public as the President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush disputed even portrayals of their partnership as a team because it suggested that they were equals. Despite such protestations, Cheney found the easygoing president accommodating on a whole raft of policy decisions.
A Aftermath of 9/11
At the head of a faction of neo-conservatives that featured Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the military intervention of Iraq in 2003 in response to the September 11th attacks on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been participating in a session at a educational institution in Florida. As Bush made his way to a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, commanding the destruction of any unidentified planes approaching the government building.
Cheney claimed the strikes altered his perspective, making him become focused on retribution. In conjunction with other neo-cons, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a occupation of Afghanistan in an endeavor to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the armed intervention of Iraq, although there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Disputed Policies
He expressed no regrets about the armed intervention, in which an reckoned 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 founded on inaccurate information echoed by Cheney, was the right course of action. "It proved to be the correct action to do back then. I was convinced back then and I maintain that stance now."
However during that period, there were dissenting voices at a high level about the botched execution of Iraq. One of the administration's own delegates to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the role. "I observed, as a baseline," he subsequently stated "true dereliction, carelessness, and unaccountability: potentially, deception, incompetence, and graft."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not solely responsible for the Iraq invasion. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for similar measures. He had composed a memo setting out circumstances in which American interests might be endangered (including "availability of essential resources, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "the United States should be positioned to act independently when joint efforts cannot be arranged," particularly referencing military moves against Iraq.
Bush additionally had arrived in the Oval Office vaguely intent on implementing what his parent had specifically avoided to do in 1991; remove Saddam. After he had been fired by the White House, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his intention of lowering America's involvement in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and mooted military action against Iraq.
Bush bore a personal grudge against Saddam, believing he had been behind a plot to murder his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally disliked that one of the most prominent hotels in Baghdad had a ground design with a image of his parent's face that each person had to tread upon.
Investigation Approaches
However it was Cheney who was among the most vociferous behind attacking Iraq, repeatedly quoting agency briefings that were either thin or entirely deceptive. He backed what the Bush administration politely called as "intensive questioning", the application of simulated drowning and physical pressure.
Answering a Senate report in 2014 that concluded that no actionable intelligence had resulted from the torture, Cheney disregarded the report as "full of crap". He stated to Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to establish protocols and create procedures to apprehend 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 deserve a lot of credit."
Public Image
Cheney took pleasure in nicknames given to him by detractors such as Darth Vader and the sinister presence, and by the concept that he was a shadow power manipulating Bush. In the author's 2013 publication about the two, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is cited as commenting: "Do I represent the sinister strategist in the corner that operates invisibly come out of his domain? That is a nice way to work, actually."
Business Interests
Debate over his business interests accompanied him throughout his time as second-in-command. While he had minimal expertise in corporate affairs but strong connections in security, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial energy conglomerates, in 1995 as chairman and chief executive.
In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's VP candidate for the White House. Controversially, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was given US agreements worth billions.
It significantly boosted his finances. His yearly compensation during his time at the company grew from his quarter-million dollars during his time as defence secretary to $4.4m. When he resigned in 2000 he had a package worth in excess of $20m|twenty
