The former US vice-president Dick Cheney, who passed away at age 84, was seen as one of the most influential holders of the vice-presidency in the nation's history. Although countless second-in-commands had to settle for marginal or symbolic functions, Cheney exercised substantial sway during the term of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was commonly described as the "true president".
Bush objected to such a characterisation and said the relationship was more complex. He observed that Cheney was courteous, always referring to him in public as Mr President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush challenged even descriptions of their partnership as a team because it indicated that they were equals. Despite these objections, Cheney considered the relaxed president pliable on a broad range of governmental choices.
A Period Following the Attacks
At the head of a faction of neo-conservatives that encompassed Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the invasion of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the September 11th attacks on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been attending a session at a educational institution in Florida. While Bush headed for a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney took command, directing the shooting down of any unresponsive aircraft heading toward the Capitol building.
Cheney said the attacks altered his perspective, causing him to be intent on retribution. Together with other neo-cons, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a occupation of Afghanistan in an attempt to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then pressed fiercely for the armed intervention of Iraq, although there was little proof of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Debated Actions
He expressed no regrets about the armed intervention, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis perished, nor about the enhanced interrogation of suspects rounded up after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was predicated on inaccurate reports circulated by Cheney, was the proper path to take. "It represented the correct action to do then. I had faith back then and I hold that view today."
But even at the time, there were opposing views at a top tier about the poor management of Iraq. One of the White House's own delegates to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the role. "I saw, as a baseline," he subsequently stated "obvious failure, negligence, and recklessness: at worst, falsehoods, unfitness, and graft."
Broader Context
Cheney was not completely to blame for the Iraq campaign. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for comparable steps. He had written a document outlining scenarios in which US concerns might be endangered (featuring "availability of crucial commodities, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "America should be prepared to take unilateral action when collective action cannot be orchestrated," explicitly referencing military moves against Iraq.
Bush too had entered the Oval Office vaguely intent on executing what his predecessor had famously refused to do in 1991; topple Saddam. Subsequent to he had been dismissed by the White House, the finance chief Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the first meeting of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had announced his plan of diminishing America's involvement in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and mooted armed intervention against Iraq.
Bush bore a personal grudge against Saddam, thinking he had been involved in a scheme to murder his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He also disliked that one of the most prominent hotels in Baghdad had a floor mural with a likeness of his parent's face that everyone had to tread upon.
Interrogation Methods
But it was Cheney who was one of the most vociferous advocating attacking Iraq, consistently referencing information documents that were either insubstantial or completely inaccurate. He supported what the Bush administration politely called as "intensive questioning", the employment of interrogation method and physical pressure.
Addressing a Senate analysis in 2014 that found that no useful information had resulted from the harsh techniques, Cheney disregarded the conclusions as "full of crap". He told Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to implement measures and establish programmes to apprehend the perpetrators who took the lives of 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it would not recur. That is precisely what they did and they earn a lot of credit."
Public Image
Cheney enjoyed monikers given to him by critics such as the dark character and the dark figure, and by the idea that he was a shadow power directing 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: "Am I the evil genius in the corner that nobody ever sees leave his lair? This represents a advantageous way to operate, actually."
Commercial Ties
Controversy over his corporate affiliations followed him throughout his time as second-in-command. While he had limited background in commerce 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 companies, in 1995 as leader and top executive.
In 2000 he was selected as Bush's election partner for the White House. Contentiously, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was given US agreements totaling multiple billions.
It significantly boosted his finances. His yearly earnings during his period at the company grew from his $258,394 when he was defence secretary to millions. When he departed in 2000 he had a package valued at in excess of $20m|twenty
