The deceased US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who died at age 84, was considered among the most influential incumbents of that position in American history. Whereas many second-in-commands were confined to minor or ceremonial positions, Cheney held substantial power during the administration of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was frequently referred to as the "actual president".
Bush objected to this portrayal and claimed the dynamic was more complicated. He pointed out that Cheney was courteous, consistently calling him in public as the President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush questioned even characterisations of their relationship as a partnership because it suggested that they were equals. Despite such protestations, Cheney found the laidback president pliable on a wide array of governmental choices.
The Post-9/11 Era
Leading of a faction of neo-cons that featured defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. At the time of the 9/11 strike, Bush had been attending a session at a school in Florida. Whereas Bush traveled to a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney took command, directing the shooting down of any non-communicating planes nearing the Capitol building.
Cheney said the assaults altered his perspective, causing him to be determined on retribution. Together with other conservative figures, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a takeover of Afghanistan in an effort to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the military action of Iraq, although there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein having involvement.
Controversial Policies
He voiced no apologies about the invasion, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, and not about the waterboarding of suspects apprehended after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was founded on faulty information echoed by Cheney, was the proper path to take. "It represented the right thing to do back then. I believed it back then and I maintain that stance presently."
But even at the time, there were dissenting voices at a senior level about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the White House's own representatives to the Middle East, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the post. "I observed, as a baseline," he wrote later "obvious failure, negligence, and irresponsibility: in the worst case, lying, incompetence, and dishonesty."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not entirely to blame for the Iraq invasion. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for similar measures. He had composed a memorandum detailing circumstances in which national priorities might be endangered (encompassing "access to crucial commodities, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "the US should be prepared to act independently when joint efforts cannot be orchestrated," explicitly referencing defense operations against Iraq.
Bush additionally had arrived in the Oval Office generally inclined on carrying out what his predecessor had famously refused to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. Subsequent to he had been dismissed by the president, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had announced his plan of diminishing America's involvement in the Middle East dispute and mooted military action against Iraq.
Bush held 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 also disliked that one of the biggest hotels in Baghdad had a floor mural with a likeness 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 advocating striking Iraq, consistently citing information documents that were whether thin or completely misleading. He backed what the Bush White House euphemistically referred to as "intensive questioning", the use of waterboarding and torture.
Answering a Senate report in 2014 that concluded that no valuable data had been obtained through the torture, Cheney disregarded the report as "riddled with crap". He informed Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to take steps and put in place initiatives to apprehend the individuals who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it never happened again. That is precisely what they did and they earn a lot of praise."
Public Image
Cheney took pleasure in monikers imposed on him by critics such as the Star Wars villain and The Prince of Darkness, and by the notion that he was a sinister influence manipulating Bush. In Peter Baker's 2013 book about the two, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is quoted as saying: "Do I represent the sinister strategist in the shadows that operates invisibly emerge from his lair? That is a advantageous way to work, in fact."
Corporate Connections
Debate over his commercial relationships pursued him during his tenure as vice-president. Although he had little experience in commerce but strong connections in security, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's biggest oil and gas corporations, in 1995 as leader and top executive.
In 2000 he was selected as Bush's election partner for the executive branch. Debatably, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was awarded US deals totaling billions.
It significantly boosted his finances. His yearly compensation during his period at the company rose from his quarter-million dollars while Pentagon chief to millions. When he left in 2000 he had a compensation package totaling over $20m|twenty
