The late US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who passed away at age 84, was considered among the most powerful occupants of the vice-presidency in US history. Although numerous second-in-commands were limited to peripheral or figurehead positions, Cheney wielded huge power during the presidency of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was often referred to as the "true president".
Bush disliked that description and stated the dynamic was more complicated. He noted that Cheney was respectful, always addressing him in public settings as the President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush challenged even portrayals of their association as a collaboration because it suggested that they were on equal footing. In spite of these objections, Cheney viewed the easygoing president malleable on a broad range of governmental choices.
The Period Following the Attacks
Leading of a contingent of neo-conservatives that included Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for 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 attack, Bush had been attending a meeting at a educational institution in Florida. Whereas Bush traveled to a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, directing the destruction of any unresponsive airplanes approaching the US Capitol.
Cheney claimed the assaults changed him, causing him to be intent on revenge. Together with other neo-cons, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a takeover of Afghanistan in an endeavor to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the military action of Iraq, although there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Controversial Actions
He voiced no apologies about the military campaign, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis died, or about the enhanced interrogation of individuals rounded up after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was founded on inaccurate intelligence circulated by Cheney, was the proper path to take. "It proved to be the correct action to do back then. I believed it then and I maintain that stance now."
Yet even at the time, there were dissenting voices at a top tier about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the White House's own representatives to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the post. "I saw, as a baseline," he subsequently stated "true dereliction, negligence, and recklessness: potentially, lying, unfitness, and graft."
Broader Context
Cheney was not solely to blame for the Iraq military action. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for comparable steps. He had composed a memo setting out situations in which American interests might be compromised (featuring "access to vital raw materials, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "the United States should be postured to take unilateral action when cooperative measures cannot be orchestrated," particularly mentioning defense operations against Iraq.
Bush also had assumed the White House generally inclined on carrying out what his predecessor had specifically avoided to do in 1991; remove Saddam. Following he had been fired by the administration, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the first meeting of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his objective of lowering America's participation in the Middle East dispute and suggested armed intervention against Iraq.
Bush held a private grievance against Saddam, believing he had been behind a scheme to murder his father, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore objected to that one of the most prominent establishments in Baghdad had a floor mural with a portrait of his predecessor's face that everyone had to step on.
Interrogation Methods
Yet it was Cheney who was one of the most outspoken supporting invading Iraq, frequently quoting information documents that were whether weak or completely deceptive. He backed what the Bush government politely called as "enhanced interrogation", the employment of waterboarding and harsh treatment.
Answering a Senate report in 2014 that found that no valuable data had come from the torture, Cheney rejected the findings as "loaded with crap". He stated to Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to take steps and create procedures to catch the bastards who took the lives of 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it never happened again. That's exactly what they did and they earn a lot of credit."
External Perception
Cheney enjoyed labels imposed on him by detractors such as Darth Vader and the sinister presence, and by the concept that he was a dark force controlling Bush. In the author's 2013 publication about the duo, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is cited as commenting: "Am I the evil genius in the background that nobody ever sees come out of his hole? This represents a advantageous way to operate, actually."
Corporate Connections
Debate over his commercial relationships pursued him through his period as second-in-command. Even though he had limited background in commerce but strong connections in security, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial energy conglomerates, in 1995 as leader and CEO.
In 2000 he was selected as Bush's VP candidate for the executive branch. Debatably, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was awarded US contracts worth substantial sums.
It made him rich. His annual income during his tenure at the corporation rose from his quarter-million dollars during his time as military head to millions. When he left in 2000 he had a package totaling in excess of $20m|twenty
