The deceased US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who has died at age 84, was considered among the most significant occupants of that position in American history. Whereas countless vice-presidents were confined to peripheral or symbolic functions, Cheney exercised huge power during the administration of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was commonly called as the "actual president".
Bush disliked this portrayal and said the relationship was more complex. He observed that Cheney was respectful, consistently referring to him in public settings as the President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush disputed even characterisations of their relationship as a collaboration because it implied that they were peers. Despite these objections, Cheney considered the laidback president pliable on a wide array of administrative determinations.
A Post-9/11 Era
Leading of a contingent of neo-conservatives that encompassed military head Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the invasion of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 assault, Bush had been participating in a gathering at a educational institution in Florida. Whereas Bush traveled to a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, directing the destruction of any non-communicating aircraft approaching the government building.
Cheney stated the attacks transformed 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 attempt to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then pressed fiercely for the armed intervention of Iraq, although there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein playing a role.
Debated Actions
He showed no remorse about the armed intervention, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis perished, and not about the waterboarding of suspects rounded up after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was predicated on misleading intelligence repeated by Cheney, was the proper decision. "It was the proper decision to do at that time. I had faith at the time and I hold that view presently."
However during that period, there were opposing views at a high level about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the administration's own representatives to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the position. "I witnessed, as a baseline," he subsequently stated "clear negligence, negligence, and irresponsibility: in the worst case, deception, unfitness, and graft."
Broader Context
Cheney was not entirely accountable for the Iraq campaign. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for similar measures. He had composed a document outlining circumstances in which American interests might be endangered (featuring "obtaining crucial commodities, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "America should be positioned to take unilateral action when collective action prove impossible," particularly referencing military moves against Iraq.
Bush additionally had arrived in the presidency somewhat determined on executing what his parent had notably declined to do in 1991; topple Saddam. Subsequent to he had been sacked by the administration, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his intention of diminishing America's involvement in the regional tensions and suggested military action against Iraq.
Bush held a individual resentment against Saddam, convinced he had been responsible for a conspiracy to assassinate his father, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally resented that one of the largest hotels in Baghdad had a floor mural with a image of his father's visage that all visitors had to step on.
Investigation Approaches
But it was Cheney who was one of the most vociferous advocating invading Iraq, frequently quoting agency briefings that were either insubstantial or completely inaccurate. He supported what the Bush government politely called as "enhanced interrogation", the application of waterboarding and physical pressure.
Responding to a Senate report in 2014 that determined that no useful information had resulted from the harsh techniques, Cheney rejected the report as "full of crap". He told Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to establish protocols and establish initiatives to apprehend the bastards who took the lives of 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it would not recur. That was specifically what they did and they merit a lot of recognition."
External Perception
Cheney enjoyed labels given to him by detractors such as the dark character and The Prince of Darkness, and by the concept that he was a shadow power controlling Bush. In the author's 2013 publication about the two, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is reported as stating: "Am I the sinister strategist in the corner that remains unseen leave his hole? This represents a effective way to work, actually."
Business Interests
Debate over his business interests pursued him during his tenure as second-in-command. Even though he had limited background in business but good contacts in military, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's biggest energy corporations, in 1995 as chair and CEO.
In 2000 he was selected as Bush's election partner for the executive branch. Contentiously, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was granted US agreements valued at substantial sums.
It significantly boosted his finances. His yearly compensation during his time at the firm grew from his $258,394 while military head to over four million. When he left in 2000 he had a compensation package valued at more than $20m|twenty
