The late US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who died at the age of 84, was considered among the most significant occupants of the vice-presidency in the nation's history. Although countless vice-presidents were limited to marginal or figurehead functions, Cheney wielded huge sway during the administration of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was frequently referred to as the "real president".
Bush objected to that description and claimed the connection was more complex. He noted that Cheney was deferential, invariably referring to him in public settings as President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush questioned even descriptions of their relationship as a partnership because it implied that they were on equal footing. In spite of these objections, Cheney considered the easygoing president pliable on a wide array of administrative determinations.
A Period Following the Attacks
In charge of a contingent of neo-cons that featured defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in reaction to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. During of the 9/11 strike, Bush had been participating in a session at a elementary school in Florida. While Bush headed for a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney took command, ordering the destruction of any unidentified airplanes heading toward the government building.
Cheney stated the assaults transformed him, leading him to become determined on retaliation. Along with other conservative figures, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a takeover of Afghanistan in an effort to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then pressed fiercely for the armed intervention of Iraq, even though there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein playing a role.
Disputed Decisions
He showed no remorse about the armed intervention, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis perished, and not about the waterboarding of suspects rounded up after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was based on inaccurate information echoed by Cheney, was the right course of action. "It represented the correct action to do back then. I had faith back then and I believe it today."
However during that period, there were contrary opinions at a high level about the poor management of Iraq. One of the government's own delegates to the Middle East, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the position. "I saw, at a minimum," he later wrote "true dereliction, inaction, and recklessness: at worst, falsehoods, incompetence, and graft."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not completely accountable for the Iraq invasion. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for similar measures. He had composed a memo outlining situations in which American interests might be endangered (featuring "obtaining essential resources, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "America should be postured to act independently when joint efforts cannot be orchestrated," explicitly citing armed actions against Iraq.
Bush additionally had entered the presidency generally inclined on executing what his parent had specifically avoided to do in 1991; remove Saddam. Subsequent to he had been sacked 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 plan of diminishing America's participation in the regional tensions and suggested defense operations against Iraq.
Bush carried a private grievance against Saddam, believing he had been behind a scheme to kill his father, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore resented that one of the most prominent hotels in Baghdad had a ground design with a likeness of his parent's countenance that each person had to tread upon.
Interrogation Methods
But it was Cheney who was among the most vehement advocating attacking Iraq, repeatedly referencing agency briefings that were whether insubstantial or entirely misleading. He backed what the Bush White House politely called as "enhanced interrogation", the application of interrogation method and torture.
Answering a Senate report in 2014 that found that no useful information had been obtained through the interrogation methods, Cheney disregarded the findings as "full of crap". He stated to Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to establish protocols and create initiatives to capture the individuals who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it would not recur. That is precisely what they did and they earn a lot of credit."
External Perception
Cheney reveled in nicknames given to him by detractors such as Darth Vader and the sinister presence, and by the concept that he was a dark force manipulating 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: "Is it me who is the evil genius in the corner that remains unseen leave his hole? It's a nice way to function, in fact."
Corporate Connections
Dispute over his business interests pursued him during his tenure as second-in-command. Even though he had little experience in commerce but good contacts in security, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's biggest oil and gas conglomerates, in 1995 as chair and chief executive.
In 2000 he became Bush's election partner for the presidency. Debatably, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was granted US contracts totaling substantial sums.
It significantly boosted his finances. His annual income during his time at the company rose from his $258,394 during his time as military head to over four million. When he departed in 2000 he had a package totaling in excess of $20m|twenty
