The deceased US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who died at age 84, was regarded as among the most significant holders of that position in US history. While many second-in-commands were limited to marginal or symbolic functions, Cheney exercised substantial sway during the administration of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was often referred to as the "real president".
Bush resented that description and said the dynamic was more complicated. He noted that Cheney was courteous, invariably calling him in public settings as the President, while he called him as Dick. Bush disputed even descriptions of their partnership as a collaboration because it indicated that they were equals. In spite of these objections, Cheney viewed the relaxed president pliable on a whole raft of policy decisions.
The Aftermath of 9/11
Leading of a contingent of conservative hawks that featured Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the September 11th attacks on New York and Washington. During of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been taking part in a session at a elementary school in Florida. As Bush traveled to a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, ordering the shooting down of any unidentified airplanes heading toward the US Capitol.
Cheney said the strikes altered his perspective, making him become determined on retribution. In conjunction with other conservative figures, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a takeover of Afghanistan in an attempt to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the military action of Iraq, even though there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein having involvement.
Debated Decisions
He voiced no apologies about the military campaign, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis died, and not about the harsh treatment of detainees captured after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was founded on misleading reports circulated by Cheney, was the proper decision. "It was the correct action to do then. I was convinced back then and I believe it presently."
However even at the time, there were opposing views at a top tier about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the White House's own special envoys to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the post. "I observed, as a baseline," he subsequently stated "true dereliction, inaction, and recklessness: potentially, falsehoods, ineptitude, and dishonesty."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not solely to blame for the Iraq military action. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for such action. He had written a memo detailing situations in which national priorities might be endangered (featuring "obtaining vital raw materials, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "America should be prepared to operate alone when joint efforts cannot be arranged," explicitly citing defense operations against Iraq.
Bush too had entered the Oval Office generally inclined on executing what his father had famously refused to do in 1991; topple Saddam. After he had been fired by the administration, the finance chief Paul O'Neill disclosed how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had announced his plan of reducing America's engagement in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and suggested military action against Iraq.
Bush bore a individual resentment against Saddam, thinking he had been responsible for a scheme to assassinate his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore objected to that one of the largest accommodations in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a portrait of his parent's countenance that each person had to walk over.
Investigation Approaches
Yet it was Cheney who was among the most vehement supporting attacking Iraq, repeatedly quoting information documents that were either weak or completely misleading. He endorsed what the Bush government indirectly described as "enhanced interrogation", the use of simulated drowning and harsh treatment.
Addressing a Senate report in 2014 that concluded that no valuable data had come from the harsh techniques, Cheney dismissed the report as "loaded with crap". He informed Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to establish protocols and create initiatives to catch the perpetrators who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it never happened again. That was specifically what they did and they earn a lot of recognition."
External Perception
Cheney enjoyed monikers assigned to him by opponents such as Darth Vader and the dark figure, and by the idea that he was a shadow power manipulating Bush. In the journalist's 2013 publication about the duo, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is cited as commenting: "Is it me who is the malevolent mastermind in the background that remains unseen leave his hole? That is a advantageous way to work, actually."
Commercial Ties
Dispute over his corporate affiliations pursued him during his tenure as second-in-command. Although he had little experience in business but strong connections in defence, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's largest oil and gas conglomerates, in 1995 as chair and top executive.
In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's VP candidate for the presidency. Contentiously, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was given US contracts valued at substantial sums.
It greatly increased his wealth. His annual income during his time at the firm rose from his previous salary while Pentagon chief to millions. When he left in 2000 he had a package totaling over $20m|twenty
