The deceased US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who passed away at the age of 84, was regarded as arguably the most influential incumbents of the vice-presidency in US history. Whereas many second-in-commands were limited to marginal or figurehead functions, Cheney wielded enormous power during the administration of George W Bush, so much so that he was frequently described as the "real president".
Bush disliked this portrayal and said the relationship was more complicated. He observed that Cheney was deferential, consistently calling him in public as the President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush questioned even descriptions of their relationship as a partnership because it suggested that they were peers. Despite these denials, Cheney considered the relaxed president malleable on a wide array of governmental choices.
The Period Following the Attacks
In charge of a faction of conservative hawks that included defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the invasion of Iraq in 2003 in response to the September 11th attacks on New York and Washington. At the time of the 9/11 assault, Bush had been attending a gathering at a school in Florida. While Bush made his way to a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney took command, directing the downing of any unresponsive airplanes approaching the government building.
Cheney claimed the attacks transformed him, leading him to become focused on retaliation. In conjunction with other neo-conservatives, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a occupation of Afghanistan in an attempt to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then pressed fiercely for the armed intervention of Iraq, though there was little proof of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Debated Decisions
He voiced no apologies about the armed intervention, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, and not about the enhanced interrogation of individuals captured after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was based on faulty reports echoed by Cheney, was the proper path to take. "It proved to be the right thing to do at that time. I was convinced back then and I maintain that stance now."
However during that period, there were contrary opinions at a top tier about the poor management 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 "clear negligence, carelessness, and irresponsibility: in the worst case, falsehoods, ineptitude, and corruption."
Additional Factors
Cheney was not entirely responsible for the Iraq military action. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for comparable steps. He had written a document outlining circumstances in which national priorities might be endangered (encompassing "obtaining vital raw materials, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "America should be postured to act independently when collective action prove impossible," explicitly referencing defense operations against Iraq.
Bush additionally had entered the Oval Office generally inclined on executing what his parent had specifically avoided to do in 1991; remove Saddam. Subsequent to he had been fired by the White House, the finance chief Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his objective of reducing America's engagement in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and suggested armed intervention against Iraq.
Bush bore a personal grudge against Saddam, thinking he had been behind a conspiracy to kill his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally objected to that one of the largest hotels in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a likeness of his predecessor's face that each person had to step on.
Questioning Techniques
But it was Cheney who was part of the most vehement advocating attacking Iraq, frequently referencing intelligence reports that were whether thin or totally inaccurate. He endorsed what the Bush government politely called as "advanced techniques", the employment of interrogation method and physical pressure.
Answering a Senate analysis in 2014 that determined that no actionable intelligence had resulted from the torture, Cheney rejected the conclusions as "riddled with crap". He stated to Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to establish protocols and create procedures to capture the individuals who took the lives of 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it would not recur. That's exactly what they did and they earn a lot of credit."
Public Persona
Cheney took pleasure in labels given to him by critics such as the Star Wars villain and The Prince of Darkness, and by the notion that he was a shadow power directing Bush. In the author's 2013 book about the duo, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is quoted as saying: "Do I represent the malevolent mastermind in the shadows that nobody ever sees come out of his lair? That is a advantageous way to function, in fact."
Corporate Connections
Debate over his corporate affiliations followed him throughout his time as VP. Even though he had minimal expertise in corporate affairs but strong connections in security, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial petroleum conglomerates, in 1995 as leader and chief executive.
In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's election partner for the presidency. Contentiously, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was given US deals valued at substantial sums.
It made him rich. His yearly earnings during his period at the company rose from his $258,394 when he was defence secretary to millions. When he departed in 2000 he had a severance arrangement totaling more than $20m|twenty
