The late US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who died at age 84, was considered among the most influential occupants of that office in the nation's history. Although numerous second-in-commands were limited to peripheral or symbolic positions, Cheney exercised substantial sway during the term of George W Bush, so much so that he was often referred to as the "actual president".
Bush objected to this portrayal and claimed the connection was more complicated. He observed that Cheney was courteous, consistently calling him in official appearances as Mr President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush disputed even characterisations of their association as a team because it implied that they were equals. Despite these objections, Cheney considered the relaxed president accommodating on a broad range of governmental choices.
A Aftermath of 9/11
At the head of a contingent of conservative hawks that featured Pentagon chief 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 strike, Bush had been attending a gathering at a educational institution in Florida. As Bush traveled to a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney took command, directing the destruction of any unresponsive airplanes heading toward the government building.
Cheney said the assaults altered his perspective, causing him to be intent on revenge. In conjunction with other neo-cons, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a occupation of Afghanistan in an attempt to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the armed intervention of Iraq, though there was little proof of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Controversial Actions
He voiced no apologies about the military campaign, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, and not about the enhanced interrogation of suspects rounded up after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was based on misleading information repeated by Cheney, was the proper decision. "It represented the correct action to do back then. I had faith at the time and I maintain that stance presently."
However even at the time, there were dissenting voices at a top tier about the botched execution of Iraq. One of the administration's own representatives to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the role. "I saw, at a minimum," he subsequently stated "clear negligence, inaction, and unaccountability: in the worst case, lying, unfitness, and graft."
Additional Factors
Cheney was not entirely to blame for the Iraq military action. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for such action. He had drafted a document outlining circumstances in which US concerns might be threatened (encompassing "obtaining vital raw materials, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "the United States should be postured to operate alone when cooperative measures prove impossible," specifically mentioning defense operations against Iraq.
Bush too had assumed the White House generally inclined on implementing what his father had notably declined to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. Subsequent to he had been sacked by the White House, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his plan of reducing America's participation in the Middle East dispute and suggested armed intervention against Iraq.
Bush bore a personal grudge against Saddam, believing he had been responsible for a scheme to assassinate his parent, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore objected to that one of the largest accommodations in Baghdad had a floor mural with a likeness of his predecessor's face that all visitors had to tread upon.
Questioning Techniques
But it was Cheney who was one of the most vehement behind attacking Iraq, repeatedly referencing agency briefings that were whether weak or completely deceptive. He supported what the Bush government euphemistically referred to as "intensive questioning", the employment of simulated drowning and torture.
Answering a Senate report in 2014 that found that no useful information had been obtained through the harsh techniques, Cheney disregarded the conclusions as "riddled with crap". He informed Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to take steps and put in place initiatives to catch the perpetrators who took the lives of 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it never happened again. That is precisely what they did and they merit a lot of praise."
Public Persona
Cheney took pleasure in nicknames assigned to him by detractors such as the dark character and the dark figure, and by the concept that he was a sinister influence manipulating Bush. In the author'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 remains unseen emerge from his hole? This represents a effective way to work, actually."
Commercial Ties
Controversy over his corporate affiliations followed him through his period as VP. Although he had little experience in business but established relationships in military, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's largest energy conglomerates, in 1995 as leader and chief executive.
In 2000 he became Bush's election partner for the executive branch. Debatably, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was awarded US agreements valued at multiple billions.
It greatly increased his wealth. His yearly earnings during his period at the firm rose from his $258,394 during his time as Pentagon chief to over four million. When he left in 2000 he had a compensation package totaling more than $20m|twenty
