The deceased US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who has died at age 84, was regarded as arguably the most significant holders of that office in American history. Although many second-in-commands had to settle for peripheral or symbolic functions, Cheney held enormous influence during the administration of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was commonly referred to as the "actual president".
Bush disliked that description and claimed the dynamic was more complicated. He observed that Cheney was courteous, consistently addressing him in official appearances as Mr President, while he called him as Dick. Bush challenged even portrayals of their association as a team because it suggested that they were peers. Regardless of these objections, Cheney viewed the laidback president malleable on a broad range of administrative determinations.
A Post-9/11 Era
In charge of a contingent of neo-cons that included military head Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the military intervention of Iraq in 2003 in reaction to the September 11th attacks on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been taking part in a session at a elementary school in Florida. As Bush made his way to a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, commanding the downing of any non-communicating airplanes approaching the government building.
Cheney stated the attacks altered his perspective, making him become intent on retaliation. In conjunction with other neo-cons, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a invasion of Afghanistan in an endeavor to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the armed intervention of Iraq, even though there was little proof of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Disputed Policies
He showed no remorse about the military campaign, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, or about the enhanced interrogation of detainees apprehended after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was founded on faulty reports circulated by Cheney, was the right course of action. "It represented the proper decision to do back then. I had faith back then and I believe it today."
However even at the time, there were opposing views at a high level about the poor management of Iraq. One of the White House's own representatives to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the position. "I saw, as a baseline," he wrote later "clear negligence, carelessness, and unaccountability: potentially, deception, ineptitude, and corruption."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not completely to blame for the Iraq military action. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for similar measures. He had composed a memorandum setting out scenarios in which American interests might be threatened (encompassing "access to crucial commodities, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "America should be positioned to operate alone when collective action cannot be orchestrated," particularly citing military moves against Iraq.
Bush additionally had assumed the presidency generally inclined on carrying out what his father had famously refused to do in 1991; remove Saddam. Subsequent to he had been dismissed 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 diminishing America's involvement in the Middle East dispute and mooted military action against Iraq.
Bush carried a private grievance against Saddam, thinking he had been responsible for a plot to murder his parent, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally resented that one of the most prominent accommodations in Baghdad had a ground design with a likeness of his predecessor's face that everyone had to tread upon.
Interrogation Methods
However it was Cheney who was part of the most vehement supporting attacking Iraq, frequently quoting intelligence reports that were both insubstantial or totally misleading. He endorsed what the Bush government euphemistically referred to as "enhanced interrogation", the use of simulated drowning and physical pressure.
Addressing a Senate report in 2014 that found that no actionable intelligence had been obtained through the torture, Cheney dismissed the findings as "full of crap". He told Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to take steps and establish initiatives to catch the individuals who took the lives of 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it never happened again. That is precisely what they did and they deserve a lot of recognition."
Public Image
Cheney enjoyed labels given to him by critics such as the Star Wars villain and The Prince of Darkness, and by the idea that he was a shadow power manipulating Bush. In the author's 2013 publication about the duo, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is quoted as saying: "Is it me who is the malevolent mastermind in the shadows that remains unseen come out of his domain? That is a advantageous way to operate, truthfully."
Corporate Connections
Dispute over his business interests accompanied him through his period as VP. Even though he had little experience in commerce but good contacts in defence, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's biggest energy companies, in 1995 as chairman and top executive.
In 2000 he was selected as Bush's running mate for the White House. Controversially, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was awarded US contracts worth substantial sums.
It greatly increased his wealth. His annual income during his time at the firm grew from his $258,394 when he was Pentagon chief to millions. When he left in 2000 he had a package totaling in excess of $20m|twenty
