The former US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who passed away at age 84, was considered arguably the most significant holders of that office in American history. Although countless second-in-commands were confined to marginal or ceremonial positions, Cheney wielded huge power during the administration of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was commonly called as the "actual president".
Bush resented such a characterisation and said the dynamic was more complex. He pointed out that Cheney was courteous, consistently calling him in public as Mr President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush disputed even descriptions of their relationship as a team because it indicated that they were equals. In spite of these denials, Cheney viewed the easygoing president pliable on a broad range of governmental choices.
A Post-9/11 Era
At the head of a faction of neo-cons that included Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the military intervention of Iraq in 2003 in reaction to the September 11th attacks on New York and Washington. At the time of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been attending a session at a elementary school in Florida. As Bush made his way to a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, directing the shooting down of any unresponsive planes heading toward the government building.
Cheney claimed the assaults altered his perspective, causing him to be determined on revenge. Along with other conservative figures, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a invasion of Afghanistan in an effort to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then pressed fiercely for the armed intervention of Iraq, even though there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Disputed Policies
He showed no remorse about the armed intervention, in which an estimated 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 invasion, which was based on inaccurate information echoed by Cheney, was the right path to take. "It proved to be the correct action to do back then. I was convinced then and I maintain that stance presently."
But even then, there were contrary opinions at a high level about the poor management of Iraq. One of the administration's own delegates to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the post. "I saw, at the very least," he subsequently stated "clear negligence, inaction, and irresponsibility: potentially, lying, ineptitude, and dishonesty."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not solely accountable for the Iraq invasion. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for similar measures. He had composed a memorandum outlining scenarios in which national priorities might be endangered (including "availability of vital raw materials, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "the United States should be postured to operate alone when cooperative measures prove impossible," explicitly referencing military moves against Iraq.
Bush also had arrived in the presidency vaguely intent on executing what his parent had famously refused to do in 1991; topple Saddam. After he had been dismissed by the president, the finance chief Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his intention of reducing America's participation in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and mooted military action against Iraq.
Bush held a individual resentment against Saddam, thinking he had been responsible for a plot to kill his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally disliked that one of the biggest accommodations in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a portrait of his father's visage that each person had to step on.
Interrogation Methods
But it was Cheney who was among the most outspoken advocating striking Iraq, repeatedly referencing intelligence reports that were both weak or entirely deceptive. He supported what the Bush White House indirectly described as "enhanced interrogation", the employment of simulated drowning and torture.
Addressing a Senate document in 2014 that concluded that no valuable data had come from the torture, Cheney rejected the conclusions as "riddled with crap". He stated to Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to establish protocols and establish programmes to catch the perpetrators who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it was not repeated. That was specifically what they did and they deserve a lot of praise."
Public Image
Cheney took pleasure in nicknames imposed on him by critics such as the Star Wars villain and the dark figure, and by the idea that he was a shadow power manipulating Bush. In Peter Baker's 2013 book about the two, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is reported as stating: "Is it me who is the sinister strategist in the corner that remains unseen emerge from his domain? That is a nice way to function, truthfully."
Business Interests
Controversy over his business interests followed him throughout his time as VP. While he had limited background in commerce but good contacts in security, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's largest petroleum conglomerates, in 1995 as chairman and chief executive.
In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's running mate for the presidency. Debatably, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was granted US agreements worth multiple billions.
It made him rich. His yearly earnings during his period at the firm increased from his $258,394 during his time as defence secretary to millions. When he left in 2000 he had a severance arrangement totaling in excess of $20m|twenty
