The deceased US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who died at the age of 84, was seen as arguably the most significant incumbents of that office in the nation's history. Whereas many second-in-commands had to settle for marginal or figurehead functions, Cheney held enormous influence during the administration of George W Bush, so much so that he was often referred to as the "true president".
Bush resented that description and claimed the relationship was more complex. He noted that Cheney was courteous, consistently calling him in public settings as President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush questioned even descriptions of their association as a team because it suggested that they were on equal footing. Despite these objections, Cheney found the relaxed president pliable on a whole raft of governmental choices.
A Aftermath of 9/11
At the head of a group of conservative hawks that featured Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the military intervention of Iraq in 2003 in reaction to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been participating in a gathering at a elementary school in Florida. While Bush traveled to a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, directing the downing of any non-communicating airplanes approaching the government building.
Cheney claimed the strikes changed him, causing him to be determined on retaliation. Together with other neo-cons, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a takeover of Afghanistan in an endeavor to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the invasion of Iraq, though there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Debated Actions
He showed no remorse about the military campaign, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis died, or about the enhanced interrogation of detainees captured after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was founded on inaccurate information repeated by Cheney, was the correct decision. "It represented the right thing to do back then. I believed it at the time and I hold that view now."
However even then, there were contrary opinions at a high level about the botched execution of Iraq. One of the administration's own delegates to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the position. "I saw, at a minimum," he later wrote "obvious failure, carelessness, and recklessness: potentially, lying, ineptitude, and dishonesty."
Additional Factors
Cheney was not entirely to blame for the Iraq military action. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for similar measures. He had composed a document detailing circumstances in which US concerns might be compromised (encompassing "obtaining essential resources, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "the US should be prepared to act independently when cooperative measures prove impossible," particularly referencing defense operations against Iraq.
Bush additionally had entered the presidency vaguely intent on implementing what his father had famously refused to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. After he had been sacked by the administration, the finance chief Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had announced his plan of lowering America's engagement in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and mooted armed intervention against Iraq.
Bush bore a personal grudge against Saddam, thinking he had been behind a scheme to assassinate his parent, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He also resented that one of the largest establishments in Baghdad had a ground design with a image of his predecessor's face that everyone had to walk over.
Questioning Techniques
Yet it was Cheney who was one of the most vehement supporting striking Iraq, repeatedly referencing information documents that were whether weak or entirely inaccurate. He endorsed what the Bush administration politely called as "intensive questioning", the application of waterboarding and torture.
Responding to a Senate report in 2014 that found that no actionable intelligence had resulted from the torture, Cheney rejected the conclusions as "full of crap". He informed Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to take steps and establish procedures to apprehend the perpetrators 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 merit a lot of credit."
Public Persona
Cheney reveled in nicknames imposed on him by detractors such as Darth Vader and the dark figure, and by the notion that he was a dark force controlling Bush. In the journalist's 2013 volume about the two, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is quoted as saying: "Am I the evil genius in the background that nobody ever sees leave his hole? It's a advantageous way to function, truthfully."
Commercial Ties
Controversy over his corporate affiliations accompanied him throughout his time as second-in-command. Even though he had little experience in corporate affairs but strong connections in defence, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's largest oil and gas companies, in 1995 as leader and top executive.
In 2000 he was selected as Bush's election partner for the presidency. Controversially, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was awarded US agreements totaling multiple billions.
It significantly boosted his finances. His yearly earnings during his period at the firm grew from his $258,394 when he was Pentagon chief to millions. When he resigned in 2000 he had a package worth more than $20m|twenty
