The deceased US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who has died at the age of 84, was regarded as one of the most significant occupants of that office in the nation's history. Whereas countless second-in-commands had to settle for marginal or figurehead roles, Cheney held enormous sway during the presidency of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was frequently called as the "actual president".
Bush disliked this portrayal and claimed the dynamic was more complex. He pointed out that Cheney was courteous, consistently calling him in official appearances as President, while he called him as Dick. Bush questioned even portrayals of their association as a partnership because it implied that they were equals. Despite these denials, Cheney considered the laidback president malleable on a broad range of governmental choices.
The Aftermath of 9/11
Leading of a group of neo-conservatives that encompassed military head Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the military intervention of Iraq in 2003 in response to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. During of the 9/11 assault, Bush had been attending a gathering at a educational institution in Florida. As Bush made his way to a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, ordering the downing of any unresponsive airplanes approaching the US Capitol.
Cheney said the attacks altered his perspective, leading him to become intent on revenge. Together with other neo-cons, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a occupation of Afghanistan in an endeavor to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then pressed fiercely for the invasion of Iraq, although there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Controversial Actions
He expressed no regrets about the armed intervention, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis died, nor about the waterboarding of individuals apprehended after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was based on misleading reports echoed by Cheney, was the right path to take. "It proved to be the right thing to do at that time. I was convinced then and I believe it presently."
Yet even then, there were contrary opinions at a senior level about the botched execution of Iraq. One of the White House's own special envoys to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the position. "I observed, at the very least," he later wrote "clear negligence, inaction, and unaccountability: at worst, falsehoods, unfitness, and graft."
Additional Factors
Cheney was not solely responsible for the Iraq invasion. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for comparable steps. He had written a document outlining situations in which US concerns might be compromised (including "availability of vital raw materials, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "America should be postured to operate alone when cooperative measures cannot be arranged," specifically citing defense operations against Iraq.
Bush additionally had entered the Oval Office vaguely intent on carrying out what his parent had notably declined to do in 1991; remove Saddam. After he had been fired by the administration, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill disclosed how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his intention of diminishing America's participation in the regional tensions and mooted armed intervention against Iraq.
Bush carried a individual resentment against Saddam, convinced he had been involved in a plot to kill his parent, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally objected to that one of the most prominent hotels in Baghdad had a ground design with a portrait of his parent's face that all visitors had to tread upon.
Questioning Techniques
Yet it was Cheney who was part of the most outspoken behind striking Iraq, consistently citing intelligence reports that were either thin or completely inaccurate. He supported what the Bush White House euphemistically referred to as "advanced techniques", the employment of simulated drowning and physical pressure.
Addressing a Senate document in 2014 that found that no actionable intelligence had been obtained through the torture, Cheney disregarded the findings as "full of crap". He informed Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to take steps and create initiatives to apprehend the perpetrators who took the lives of 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it was not repeated. That is precisely what they did and they deserve a lot of recognition."
Public Persona
Cheney enjoyed monikers assigned to him by critics such as the Star Wars villain and The Prince of Darkness, and by the concept that he was a shadow power directing Bush. In the journalist's 2013 publication about the two, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is cited as commenting: "Am I the malevolent mastermind in the background that operates invisibly emerge from his domain? This represents a advantageous way to work, in fact."
Business Interests
Dispute over his business interests followed him during his tenure as VP. Even though he had little experience in corporate affairs but established relationships in security, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial oil and gas conglomerates, in 1995 as leader and CEO.
In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's election partner for the White House. Contentiously, during the military campaign, Halliburton was given US agreements valued at multiple billions.
It made him rich. His yearly earnings during his time at the firm grew from his $258,394 when he was Pentagon chief to over four million. When he resigned in 2000 he had a package worth more than $20m|twenty
