The former US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who passed away at age 84, was seen as arguably the most influential holders of that position in the nation's history. While numerous second-in-commands had to settle for minor or figurehead positions, Cheney held enormous sway during the term of George W Bush, to the point that he was commonly described as the "real president".
Bush disliked this portrayal and claimed the dynamic was more complicated. He pointed out that Cheney was respectful, consistently referring to him in public settings as President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush questioned even portrayals of their relationship as a partnership because it indicated that they were on equal footing. Despite these denials, Cheney viewed the easygoing president pliable on a whole raft of policy decisions.
The Post-9/11 Era
Leading of a group of neo-conservatives that featured defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in response to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 strike, Bush had been participating in a meeting at a educational institution in Florida. Whereas Bush headed for a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, ordering the shooting down of any unidentified airplanes approaching the Capitol building.
Cheney claimed the attacks altered his perspective, making him become intent on revenge. In conjunction with other neo-conservatives, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a occupation of Afghanistan in an effort to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the invasion of Iraq, even though there was little proof of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Controversial Policies
He showed no remorse about the invasion, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis perished, and not about the enhanced interrogation of detainees rounded up after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was based on faulty reports echoed by Cheney, was the proper path to take. "It represented the correct action to do then. I was convinced at the time and I hold that view now."
Yet during that period, there were opposing views at a top tier about the botched execution 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, at the very least," he subsequently stated "clear negligence, carelessness, and unaccountability: in the worst case, lying, unfitness, and dishonesty."
Broader Context
Cheney was not completely responsible for the Iraq invasion. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for such action. He had written a memo detailing situations in which US concerns might be compromised (encompassing "obtaining vital raw materials, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "the United States should be positioned to operate alone when collective action prove impossible," explicitly referencing military moves against Iraq.
Bush also had arrived in the White House generally inclined on implementing what his parent had specifically avoided to do in 1991; topple Saddam. Following he had been fired by the administration, the finance chief Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had announced his objective of lowering America's engagement in the regional tensions and proposed military action against Iraq.
Bush held a personal grudge against Saddam, thinking he had been responsible for a scheme to kill his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally objected to that one of the biggest establishments in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a likeness of his parent's countenance that each person had to step on.
Questioning Techniques
But it was Cheney who was one of the most vociferous behind attacking Iraq, repeatedly citing agency briefings that were either thin or totally deceptive. He endorsed what the Bush government euphemistically referred to as "advanced techniques", the application of interrogation method and physical pressure.
Addressing a Senate document in 2014 that determined that no valuable data had resulted from the interrogation methods, Cheney dismissed the report as "riddled with crap". He stated to Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to implement measures and establish procedures to catch the bastards who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it would not recur. That was specifically what they did and they earn a lot of recognition."
External Perception
Cheney took pleasure in nicknames given to him by opponents such as Darth Vader and the sinister presence, and by the concept that he was a sinister influence directing Bush. In Peter Baker's 2013 volume about the two, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is cited as commenting: "Am I the sinister strategist in the shadows that operates invisibly come out of his domain? That is a advantageous way to operate, actually."
Business Interests
Dispute over his commercial relationships accompanied him during his tenure as VP. Although he had minimal expertise in commerce but good contacts in security, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's largest oil and gas companies, in 1995 as chairman and CEO.
In 2000 he was selected as Bush's VP candidate for the White House. Controversially, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was granted US agreements worth multiple billions.
It greatly increased his wealth. His yearly earnings during his time at the company increased from his $258,394 while Pentagon chief to $4.4m. When he left in 2000 he had a package valued at over $20m|twenty
