The late US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who died at age 84, was considered among the most powerful incumbents of that position in American history. Although countless second-in-commands had to settle for peripheral or symbolic positions, Cheney wielded huge sway during the administration of George W Bush, so much so that he was frequently called as the "real president".
Bush resented such a characterisation and stated the connection was more complicated. He observed that Cheney was courteous, invariably calling him in public settings as President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush challenged even descriptions of their relationship as a collaboration because it indicated that they were on equal footing. Regardless of these objections, Cheney considered the easygoing president pliable on a whole raft of governmental choices.
A Post-9/11 Era
Leading of a contingent of neo-conservatives that encompassed defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the invasion of Iraq in 2003 in response to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 strike, Bush had been taking part in a gathering at a school in Florida. As Bush traveled to a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, directing the shooting down of any non-communicating airplanes heading toward the US Capitol.
Cheney said the attacks transformed him, making him become intent on retribution. Along with other conservative figures, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a occupation of Afghanistan in an endeavor to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then pressed fiercely for the military action of Iraq, though there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein having involvement.
Controversial Policies
He showed no remorse about the military campaign, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, nor about the enhanced interrogation of individuals rounded up after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was based on inaccurate reports echoed by Cheney, was the right course of action. "It proved to be the correct action to do back then. I believed it back then and I hold that view now."
But even at the time, there were dissenting voices at a top tier about the botched execution of Iraq. One of the government's own special envoys to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the post. "I witnessed, at the very least," he wrote later "clear negligence, carelessness, and recklessness: in the worst case, falsehoods, ineptitude, and corruption."
Broader Context
Cheney was not entirely responsible for the Iraq campaign. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for such action. He had drafted a document setting out scenarios in which US concerns might be endangered (featuring "obtaining vital raw materials, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "the United States should be prepared to act independently when joint efforts prove impossible," explicitly citing defense operations against Iraq.
Bush additionally had entered the Oval Office somewhat determined on carrying out what his predecessor 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 first meeting of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had announced his objective of reducing America's involvement in the regional tensions and suggested armed intervention against Iraq.
Bush carried a private grievance against Saddam, believing he had been involved in a scheme to murder his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally resented that one of the biggest hotels in Baghdad had a ground design with a image of his parent's visage that everyone had to tread upon.
Interrogation Methods
But it was Cheney who was part of the most vehement advocating invading Iraq, consistently referencing intelligence reports that were either thin or completely misleading. He endorsed what the Bush White House indirectly described as "advanced techniques", the use of interrogation method and torture.
Responding to a Senate analysis in 2014 that determined that no actionable intelligence had come from the interrogation methods, Cheney disregarded the conclusions as "full of crap". He stated to Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to implement measures and put in place programmes to capture the perpetrators who took the lives of 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it would not recur. That was specifically what they did and they merit a lot of praise."
Public Persona
Cheney took pleasure in nicknames imposed on him by critics such as Darth Vader and the sinister presence, and by the notion that he was a sinister influence controlling Bush. In Peter Baker's 2013 book about the two, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is cited as commenting: "Is it me who is the sinister strategist in the corner that remains unseen leave his lair? This represents a effective way to operate, in fact."
Business Interests
Controversy over his business interests pursued him during his tenure as VP. While 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 most substantial petroleum corporations, in 1995 as leader and CEO.
In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's VP candidate for the White House. Debatably, during the military campaign, Halliburton was given US deals valued at multiple billions.
It made him rich. His yearly earnings during his tenure at the firm increased from his quarter-million dollars while Pentagon chief to $4.4m. When he resigned in 2000 he had a compensation package totaling more than $20m|twenty
