The deceased US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who died at the age of 84, was considered one of the most significant incumbents of that office in US history. Although countless second-in-commands had to settle for minor or figurehead roles, Cheney wielded huge sway during the presidency of George W Bush, so much so that he was often referred to as the "real president".
Bush disliked such a characterisation and said the connection was more complex. He noted that Cheney was deferential, invariably addressing him in public settings as Mr President, while he called him as Dick. Bush questioned even descriptions of their relationship as a team because it suggested that they were equals. Despite such protestations, Cheney viewed the easygoing president pliable on a whole raft of policy decisions.
A Period Following the Attacks
Leading of a group of conservative hawks that encompassed defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the invasion of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. During of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been taking part in a meeting at a educational institution in Florida. Whereas Bush made his way to a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, ordering the downing of any unidentified airplanes nearing the US Capitol.
Cheney stated the strikes changed him, making him become focused on revenge. Together with other neo-conservatives, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a occupation of Afghanistan in an effort to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then pressed fiercely for the invasion of Iraq, even though there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Disputed Actions
He showed no remorse about the invasion, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis died, nor about the waterboarding of detainees captured after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was founded on faulty intelligence repeated by Cheney, was the right path to take. "It was the correct action to do back then. I was convinced then and I believe it today."
But even then, there were opposing views at a top tier about the poor management of Iraq. One of the government's own delegates to the Middle East, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the post. "I witnessed, at the very least," he wrote later "true dereliction, inaction, and irresponsibility: in the worst case, deception, incompetence, and dishonesty."
Additional Factors
Cheney was not solely accountable for the Iraq military action. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for comparable steps. He had written a document setting out situations in which national priorities might be endangered (featuring "availability of essential resources, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "the US should be prepared to act independently when joint efforts cannot be arranged," specifically referencing defense operations against Iraq.
Bush also had entered the Oval Office vaguely intent on carrying out what his father had famously refused to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. Following he had been fired by the administration, the finance chief Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had announced his objective of lowering America's engagement in the regional tensions and mooted armed intervention against Iraq.
Bush held a personal grudge against Saddam, convinced he had been responsible for a plot to assassinate his parent, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally resented that one of the most prominent accommodations in Baghdad had a ground design with a likeness of his parent's countenance that each person had to tread upon.
Questioning Techniques
But it was Cheney who was one of the most vociferous behind striking Iraq, frequently quoting intelligence reports that were whether thin or completely deceptive. He backed what the Bush government politely called as "intensive questioning", the use of interrogation method and harsh treatment.
Responding to a Senate analysis in 2014 that determined that no valuable data had come from the interrogation methods, Cheney dismissed the conclusions as "riddled with crap". He stated to Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to implement measures and put in place programmes to apprehend the perpetrators who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it was not repeated. That was specifically what they did and they earn a lot of credit."
Public Image
Cheney reveled in labels given to him by critics such as the dark character and The Prince of Darkness, and by the concept that he was a dark force directing Bush. In Peter Baker's 2013 volume about the duo, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is quoted as saying: "Am I the malevolent mastermind in the background that operates invisibly emerge from his lair? That is a effective way to work, in fact."
Corporate Connections
Dispute over his commercial relationships pursued him throughout his time as VP. Even though he had limited background in commerce but strong connections in security, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's biggest petroleum conglomerates, in 1995 as chair and chief executive.
In 2000 he became Bush's election partner for the White House. Contentiously, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was granted US contracts totaling billions.
It greatly increased his wealth. His yearly earnings during his period at the company rose from his quarter-million dollars while military head to millions. When he left in 2000 he had a package worth more than $20m|twenty
