The former US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who passed away at age 84, was considered one of the most powerful holders of that position in American history. Although countless second-in-commands had to settle for peripheral or figurehead roles, Cheney wielded substantial influence during the administration of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was often called as the "true president".
Bush resented that description and said the connection was more complex. He observed that Cheney was respectful, always calling him in public settings as the President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush disputed even descriptions of their partnership as a partnership because it implied that they were on equal footing. Despite such protestations, Cheney considered the easygoing president pliable on a broad range of policy decisions.
The Aftermath of 9/11
At the head of a faction of neo-conservatives that included military head Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the military intervention of Iraq in 2003 in response to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 assault, Bush had been attending a meeting at a elementary school in Florida. Whereas Bush made his way to a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney took command, commanding the destruction of any non-communicating planes nearing the government building.
Cheney said the strikes transformed him, leading him to become determined on revenge. Along with other neo-conservatives, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a takeover of Afghanistan in an effort to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then pressed fiercely for the invasion of Iraq, though there was little proof of Saddam Hussein having involvement.
Controversial Decisions
He showed no remorse about the armed intervention, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, nor about the enhanced interrogation of suspects captured after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was based on inaccurate intelligence circulated by Cheney, was the proper course of action. "It represented the correct action to do back then. I believed it then and I hold that view today."
But during that period, there were opposing views at a high level about the botched execution of Iraq. One of the White House's own representatives to the Middle East, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the post. "I observed, at a minimum," he subsequently stated "clear negligence, carelessness, and recklessness: in the worst case, lying, unfitness, and graft."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not solely responsible for the Iraq military action. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for such action. He had drafted a memorandum outlining circumstances in which national priorities might be threatened (featuring "access to vital raw materials, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "the United States should be postured to take unilateral action when collective action cannot be arranged," particularly mentioning military moves against Iraq.
Bush additionally had assumed the White House somewhat determined on carrying out what his parent had specifically avoided to do in 1991; topple Saddam. After he had been sacked by the administration, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had announced his intention of reducing America's participation in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and suggested military action against Iraq.
Bush carried a private grievance against Saddam, believing he had been involved in a conspiracy to murder his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally resented that one of the largest establishments in Baghdad had a ground design with a image of his parent's visage that everyone had to walk over.
Interrogation Methods
But it was Cheney who was among the most vociferous supporting invading Iraq, frequently citing information documents that were both weak or completely deceptive. He supported what the Bush administration politely called as "enhanced interrogation", the application of interrogation method and torture.
Responding to a Senate document in 2014 that determined that no actionable intelligence had resulted from the interrogation methods, Cheney dismissed the report as "full of crap". He stated to Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to take steps and establish initiatives to apprehend the bastards who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it was not repeated. That was specifically what they did and they deserve a lot of recognition."
External Perception
Cheney reveled in labels imposed on him by detractors such as the dark character and the sinister presence, and by the concept that he was a dark force directing Bush. In the author's 2013 publication about the pair, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is cited as commenting: "Am I the evil genius in the shadows that operates invisibly leave his domain? That is a effective way to work, truthfully."
Corporate Connections
Controversy over his business interests followed him during his tenure as second-in-command. Although he had limited background in commerce but good contacts in security, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's biggest energy conglomerates, in 1995 as chairman and top executive.
In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's VP candidate for the presidency. Debatably, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was given US contracts worth substantial sums.
It significantly boosted his finances. His yearly earnings during his period at the corporation grew from his $258,394 when he was Pentagon chief to millions. When he departed in 2000 he had a severance arrangement valued at in excess of $20m|twenty
