The deceased US second-in-command Dick Cheney, who passed away at age 84, was seen as among the most influential occupants of that position in the nation's history. While numerous second-in-commands were confined to minor or ceremonial functions, Cheney held huge sway during the administration of George W Bush, so much so that he was often called as the "actual president".
Bush disliked such a characterisation and said the dynamic was more nuanced. He observed that Cheney was deferential, invariably calling him in official appearances as the President, while he called him as Dick. Bush disputed even characterisations of their partnership as a partnership because it implied that they were peers. Regardless of these objections, Cheney viewed the easygoing president pliable on a broad range of policy decisions.
A Period Following the Attacks
Leading of a faction of neo-cons that encompassed Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the invasion of Iraq in 2003 in reaction to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. During of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been participating in a gathering at a school in Florida. While Bush traveled to a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney took command, directing the shooting down of any unresponsive planes heading toward the government building.
Cheney claimed the assaults altered his perspective, making him become focused on retribution. Along with other conservative figures, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a invasion of Afghanistan in an attempt to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the armed intervention of Iraq, though there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Disputed Policies
He voiced no apologies about the military campaign, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, and not about the waterboarding of individuals apprehended after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was founded on faulty information repeated by Cheney, was the proper path to take. "It represented the proper decision to do back then. I had faith back then and I hold that view now."
Yet even then, there were dissenting voices at a top tier about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the White House's own delegates to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the post. "I saw, at a minimum," he later wrote "true dereliction, inaction, and irresponsibility: at worst, deception, unfitness, and graft."
Additional Factors
Cheney was not completely responsible for the Iraq campaign. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for such action. He had written a memorandum detailing situations in which national priorities might be endangered (featuring "access to vital raw materials, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "the US should be positioned to operate alone when collective action prove impossible," particularly mentioning defense operations against Iraq.
Bush also had assumed the White House somewhat determined on executing what his father had specifically avoided to do in 1991; remove Saddam. After he had been dismissed by the White House, the finance chief Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his plan of reducing America's involvement in the Middle East dispute and suggested armed intervention against Iraq.
Bush held a private grievance against Saddam, convinced he had been responsible for a scheme to assassinate his parent, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He also disliked that one of the biggest establishments in Baghdad had a floor mural with a portrait of his father's countenance that all visitors had to walk over.
Questioning Techniques
But it was Cheney who was one of the most vehement advocating striking Iraq, repeatedly citing intelligence reports that were both insubstantial or entirely misleading. He backed what the Bush administration indirectly described as "intensive questioning", the use of waterboarding and physical pressure.
Addressing a Senate document in 2014 that concluded that no valuable data had resulted from the harsh techniques, Cheney rejected the report as "loaded with crap". He informed Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to take steps and put in place initiatives to capture the individuals who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it never happened again. That's exactly what they did and they merit a lot of recognition."
Public Persona
Cheney reveled in nicknames given to him by critics such as the Star Wars villain and The Prince of Darkness, and by the notion that he was a sinister influence controlling Bush. In the author's 2013 book about the duo, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is cited as commenting: "Is it me who is the sinister strategist in the corner that operates invisibly leave his hole? That is a nice way to operate, in fact."
Commercial Ties
Controversy over his commercial relationships followed him throughout his time as vice-president. Even though he had limited background in commerce but strong connections in military, especially 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 became Bush's running mate for the White House. Debatably, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was granted US agreements valued at substantial sums.
It significantly boosted his finances. His annual income during his tenure at the firm rose from his previous salary during his time as Pentagon chief to millions. When he left in 2000 he had a severance arrangement totaling more than $20m|twenty
