The late US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who died at the age of 84, was regarded as among the most significant incumbents of that position in the nation's history. Whereas many second-in-commands had to settle for peripheral or figurehead functions, Cheney exercised substantial sway during the presidency of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was often called as the "true president".
Bush objected to this portrayal and said the relationship was more complex. He observed that Cheney was courteous, consistently addressing him in official appearances as the President, while he called him as Dick. Bush questioned even portrayals of their relationship as a partnership because it implied that they were on equal footing. Regardless of these objections, Cheney found the easygoing president malleable on a wide array of policy decisions.
The Aftermath of 9/11
Leading of a group of neo-conservatives that included military head Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the invasion of Iraq in 2003 in reaction to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. During of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been taking part in a meeting at a school in Florida. As Bush traveled to a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney took command, ordering the shooting down of any unresponsive planes approaching the Capitol building.
Cheney said the assaults altered his perspective, leading him to become intent on retribution. Together with other neo-cons, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a occupation of Afghanistan in an effort to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then pressed fiercely for the military action of Iraq, even though there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Debated Decisions
He voiced no apologies about the invasion, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis died, or about the waterboarding of detainees captured after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was founded on faulty information circulated by Cheney, was the correct course of action. "It represented the correct action to do back then. I had faith at the time and I hold that view now."
However even then, there were contrary opinions at a high level about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the White House's own representatives to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the position. "I saw, at a minimum," he later wrote "obvious failure, carelessness, and irresponsibility: in the worst case, lying, unfitness, and graft."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not completely responsible for the Iraq invasion. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for similar measures. He had drafted a document setting out circumstances in which US concerns might be endangered (encompassing "obtaining crucial commodities, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "the US should be positioned to operate alone when cooperative measures prove impossible," specifically referencing military moves against Iraq.
Bush also had entered the White House somewhat determined on carrying out what his predecessor had specifically avoided to do in 1991; remove Saddam. After he had been dismissed by the president, the finance chief Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his intention of lowering America's engagement in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and proposed armed intervention against Iraq.
Bush bore a personal grudge against Saddam, convinced he had been responsible for a plot to kill his parent, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He also objected to that one of the biggest establishments in Baghdad had a floor mural with a portrait of his parent's visage that all visitors had to step on.
Investigation Approaches
However it was Cheney who was among the most vehement supporting invading Iraq, frequently quoting information documents that were whether thin or entirely misleading. He endorsed what the Bush White House euphemistically referred to as "advanced techniques", the application of simulated drowning and torture.
Responding to a Senate analysis in 2014 that concluded that no valuable data had resulted from the torture, Cheney rejected the report as "full of crap". He stated to Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to establish protocols and create procedures to catch the individuals who took the lives of 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it was not repeated. That's exactly what they did and they deserve a lot of credit."
External Perception
Cheney reveled in nicknames given to him by detractors such as the Star Wars villain and the dark figure, and by the notion that he was a sinister influence controlling Bush. In Peter Baker's 2013 book about the duo, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is reported as stating: "Is it me who is the malevolent mastermind in the background that nobody ever sees leave his hole? It's a advantageous way to work, in fact."
Corporate Connections
Debate over his commercial relationships followed him during his tenure as vice-president. While he had limited background in business but established relationships in security, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's largest oil and gas companies, in 1995 as chair and top executive.
In 2000 he was selected as Bush's running mate for the executive branch. Contentiously, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was given US deals totaling multiple billions.
It greatly increased his wealth. His yearly compensation during his tenure at the firm increased from his previous salary during his time as military head to over four million. When he departed in 2000 he had a package valued at over $20m|twenty
