The former US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who passed away at age 84, was seen as among the most influential occupants of that position in US history. Although numerous second-in-commands were confined to minor or symbolic roles, Cheney held substantial influence during the term of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was often called as the "real president".
Bush objected to such a characterisation and stated the dynamic was more nuanced. He observed that Cheney was courteous, always referring to him in official appearances as President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush questioned even characterisations of their relationship as a collaboration because it implied that they were peers. Despite these denials, Cheney found the easygoing president malleable on a whole raft of governmental choices.
A Aftermath of 9/11
In charge of a group of neo-cons that featured defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the invasion of Iraq in 2003 in response to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. During of the 9/11 assault, Bush had been participating in a gathering at a educational institution in Florida. Whereas Bush headed for a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, directing the shooting down of any unidentified airplanes approaching the US Capitol.
Cheney stated the assaults altered his perspective, causing him to be determined on retaliation. Together with other neo-conservatives, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a invasion of Afghanistan in an effort to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the military action of Iraq, even though there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Disputed Decisions
He expressed no regrets about the military campaign, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, and not about the enhanced interrogation of individuals captured after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was predicated on misleading intelligence repeated by Cheney, was the right path to take. "It was the right thing to do then. I was convinced at the time and I maintain that stance today."
But even at the time, there were opposing views at a senior level about the poor management of Iraq. One of the White House's own special envoys to the Middle East, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the post. "I saw, at the very least," he subsequently stated "obvious failure, negligence, and unaccountability: in the worst case, lying, unfitness, and dishonesty."
Additional Factors
Cheney was not completely to blame for the Iraq campaign. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for comparable steps. He had composed a memorandum outlining circumstances in which American interests might be compromised (including "access to essential resources, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "America should be postured to act independently when joint efforts cannot be orchestrated," explicitly citing armed actions against Iraq.
Bush too had arrived in the White House generally inclined on implementing what his parent had notably declined to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. Following he had been dismissed by the president, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his objective of lowering America's involvement in the Middle East dispute and proposed armed intervention against Iraq.
Bush carried a private grievance against Saddam, believing he had been behind a scheme to murder his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore objected to that one of the biggest accommodations in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a portrait of his parent's countenance that all visitors had to walk over.
Investigation Approaches
Yet it was Cheney who was part of the most outspoken supporting invading Iraq, frequently quoting agency briefings that were whether thin or completely misleading. He endorsed what the Bush administration euphemistically referred to as "advanced techniques", the application of simulated drowning and physical pressure.
Responding to a Senate report in 2014 that determined that no useful information had been obtained through the torture, Cheney dismissed the conclusions as "full of crap". He told Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to implement measures and put in place procedures to apprehend the perpetrators who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it was not repeated. That's exactly what they did and they earn a lot of credit."
Public Persona
Cheney took pleasure in labels assigned to him by critics such as the dark character and the sinister presence, and by the concept that he was a dark force directing Bush. In the author's 2013 volume about the two, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is reported as stating: "Is it me who is the malevolent mastermind in the shadows that remains unseen emerge from his hole? It's a effective way to operate, actually."
Commercial Ties
Dispute over his business interests followed him through his period as vice-president. Although he had limited background in business but established relationships in defence, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's largest oil and gas conglomerates, in 1995 as chairman and top executive.
In 2000 he became Bush's VP candidate for the executive branch. Contentiously, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was given US contracts worth substantial sums.
It greatly increased his wealth. His yearly earnings during his time at the corporation grew from his $258,394 during his time as military head to $4.4m. When he left in 2000 he had a package worth in excess of $20m|twenty
