The late US vice-president Dick Cheney, who died at the age of 84, was considered arguably the most influential incumbents of that position in the nation's history. Although many second-in-commands had to settle for marginal or ceremonial roles, Cheney held enormous sway during the presidency of George W Bush, to the point that he was commonly referred to as the "true president".
Bush resented that description and claimed the connection was more nuanced. He pointed out that Cheney was respectful, always calling him in official appearances as President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush challenged even portrayals of their relationship as a collaboration because it implied that they were peers. In spite of these objections, Cheney considered the easygoing president malleable on a broad range of governmental choices.
A Period Following the Attacks
In charge of a faction of neo-cons that encompassed defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 assault, Bush had been attending a gathering at a school in Florida. As Bush headed for a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney took command, directing the shooting down of any unidentified aircraft heading toward the US Capitol.
Cheney claimed the strikes transformed him, making him become intent on revenge. In conjunction with other neo-cons, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a occupation of Afghanistan in an effort to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the armed intervention of Iraq, although there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Controversial Actions
He showed no remorse about the armed intervention, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis perished, and not about the enhanced interrogation of individuals rounded up after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was founded on misleading information circulated by Cheney, was the proper path to take. "It proved to be the correct action to do then. I was convinced at the time and I maintain that stance today."
But even at the time, there were opposing views at a senior level about the poor management of Iraq. One of the government's own delegates to the Middle East, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the role. "I saw, as a baseline," he wrote later "clear negligence, negligence, and recklessness: in the worst case, falsehoods, unfitness, and dishonesty."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not solely accountable for the Iraq invasion. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for similar measures. He had written a memorandum detailing scenarios in which national priorities might be endangered (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," particularly citing defense operations against Iraq.
Bush too had entered the presidency generally inclined on carrying out what his father had famously refused to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. After he had been fired by the administration, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill disclosed how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his plan of reducing America's participation in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and proposed military action against Iraq.
Bush bore a personal grudge against Saddam, thinking he had been responsible for a scheme to kill his parent, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally disliked that one of the biggest establishments in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a portrait of his parent's face that each person had to walk over.
Questioning Techniques
But it was Cheney who was part of the most outspoken behind invading Iraq, frequently quoting information documents that were both weak or completely deceptive. He supported what the Bush government politely called as "advanced techniques", the use of waterboarding and physical pressure.
Responding to a Senate document in 2014 that found that no useful information had come from the interrogation methods, Cheney rejected the conclusions as "full of crap". He stated to 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 make sure it was not repeated. That is precisely what they did and they merit a lot of recognition."
External Perception
Cheney took pleasure in labels imposed on him by opponents such as Darth Vader and The Prince of Darkness, and by the notion that he was a sinister influence manipulating Bush. In the journalist's 2013 volume about the two, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is reported as stating: "Do I represent the sinister strategist in the corner that nobody ever sees come out of his lair? This represents a effective way to operate, actually."
Corporate Connections
Dispute over his commercial relationships pursued him through his period as VP. Although he had minimal expertise in commerce but strong connections in security, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's largest oil and gas companies, in 1995 as leader and top executive.
In 2000 he was selected as Bush's VP candidate for the presidency. Contentiously, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was given US agreements valued at substantial sums.
It greatly increased his wealth. His yearly compensation during his period at the company increased from his previous salary during his time as military head to over four million. When he departed in 2000 he had a package worth more than $20m|twenty
