The late US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who passed away at the age of 84, was seen as among the most significant incumbents of that office in US history. Although countless second-in-commands had to settle for minor or ceremonial roles, Cheney held substantial sway during the term of George W Bush, so much so that he was frequently referred to as the "actual president".
Bush resented that description and said the relationship was more complex. He observed that Cheney was courteous, consistently calling him in public as the President, while he called him as Dick. Bush questioned even portrayals of their relationship as a collaboration because it indicated that they were equals. Despite these denials, Cheney considered the easygoing president malleable on a wide array of policy decisions.
The Aftermath of 9/11
Leading of a faction of conservative hawks that encompassed Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in reaction to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. At the time of the 9/11 strike, Bush had been participating in a meeting at a school in Florida. While Bush traveled to a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, ordering the downing of any unidentified aircraft approaching the US Capitol.
Cheney said the assaults altered his perspective, causing him to be determined on retaliation. Together with other neo-conservatives, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a occupation of Afghanistan in an attempt to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the armed intervention of Iraq, though there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Debated Actions
He voiced no apologies about the invasion, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, or about the enhanced interrogation of suspects captured after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was predicated on inaccurate intelligence echoed by Cheney, was the correct decision. "It was the correct action to do then. I was convinced back then and I believe it presently."
But even then, there were dissenting voices at a high level about the botched execution 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 role. "I witnessed, at the very least," he subsequently stated "clear negligence, inaction, and recklessness: potentially, deception, incompetence, and graft."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not solely responsible for the Iraq invasion. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for similar measures. He had composed a memorandum outlining circumstances in which US concerns might be compromised (encompassing "availability of vital raw materials, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "the US should be postured to operate alone when collective action prove impossible," explicitly citing defense operations against Iraq.
Bush also had arrived in the Oval Office generally inclined on implementing what his predecessor had famously refused to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. Following he had been dismissed by the White House, the finance chief Paul O'Neill disclosed how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had announced his plan of diminishing America's engagement in the Middle East dispute and suggested defense operations against Iraq.
Bush held a private grievance against Saddam, believing he had been involved in a conspiracy to assassinate his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally disliked that one of the largest establishments in Baghdad had a ground design with a portrait of his parent's countenance that all visitors had to tread upon.
Questioning Techniques
But it was Cheney who was part of the most vociferous supporting attacking Iraq, repeatedly citing agency briefings that were either weak or completely inaccurate. He backed what the Bush White House euphemistically referred to as "intensive questioning", the use of interrogation method and physical pressure.
Responding to a Senate report in 2014 that concluded that no actionable intelligence had resulted from the torture, Cheney dismissed the conclusions as "loaded with crap". He stated to Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to take steps and establish initiatives to capture the bastards who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it never happened again. That's exactly what they did and they merit a lot of recognition."
Public Image
Cheney enjoyed labels given to him by detractors such as the dark character and The Prince of Darkness, and by the idea that he was a dark force manipulating Bush. In the journalist'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 operates invisibly emerge from his hole? It's a effective way to operate, actually."
Corporate Connections
Controversy over his corporate affiliations pursued him during his tenure as second-in-command. While he had limited background in commerce but good contacts in defence, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's largest oil and gas corporations, in 1995 as chairman and CEO.
In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's VP candidate for the presidency. Contentiously, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was awarded US contracts worth billions.
It made him rich. His yearly compensation during his tenure at the firm increased from his $258,394 while military head to over four million. When he departed in 2000 he had a compensation package totaling over $20m|twenty
