The deceased US vice-president Dick Cheney, who passed away at age 84, was considered one of the most influential occupants of that position in US history. While countless second-in-commands were limited to minor or figurehead functions, Cheney wielded substantial influence during the administration of George W Bush, so much so that he was commonly called as the "true president".
Bush resented that description and claimed the connection was more nuanced. He observed that Cheney was courteous, consistently addressing him in official appearances as President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush challenged even descriptions of their association as a team because it suggested that they were equals. In spite of these objections, Cheney considered the easygoing president malleable on a wide array of administrative determinations.
The Period Following the Attacks
In charge of a faction of neo-conservatives that encompassed Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the military intervention of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the September 11th attacks on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 strike, Bush had been participating in a meeting at a elementary school in Florida. Whereas Bush headed for a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, ordering the downing of any unidentified aircraft heading toward the government building.
Cheney claimed the attacks transformed him, making him become intent on retaliation. Together with other neo-cons, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a occupation of Afghanistan in an attempt to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then pressed fiercely for the invasion of Iraq, although there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein playing a role.
Disputed Actions
He showed no remorse about the military campaign, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis perished, nor about the enhanced interrogation of individuals rounded up after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was predicated on inaccurate intelligence echoed by Cheney, was the correct decision. "It represented the proper decision to do then. I believed it back then and I hold that view now."
However during that period, there were opposing views at a top tier about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the administration's own delegates to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the role. "I observed, at a minimum," he subsequently stated "obvious failure, inaction, and irresponsibility: potentially, lying, ineptitude, and corruption."
Broader Context
Cheney was not entirely to blame for the Iraq campaign. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for similar measures. He had drafted a memo setting out scenarios in which US concerns might be threatened (including "availability of vital raw materials, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "America should be prepared to take unilateral action when joint efforts prove impossible," explicitly referencing military moves against Iraq.
Bush also had entered the Oval Office generally inclined on carrying out what his father had famously refused to do in 1991; topple Saddam. After he had been fired by the president, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his objective of diminishing America's participation in the Middle East dispute and suggested defense operations against Iraq.
Bush bore a personal grudge against Saddam, believing he had been behind a scheme to kill his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally disliked that one of the most prominent accommodations in Baghdad had a floor mural with a image of his parent's visage that each person had to tread upon.
Interrogation Methods
Yet it was Cheney who was one of the most vehement behind attacking Iraq, repeatedly referencing information documents that were either insubstantial or completely deceptive. He supported what the Bush White House politely called as "advanced techniques", the use of waterboarding and torture.
Addressing a Senate analysis in 2014 that found that no valuable data had been obtained through the interrogation methods, Cheney rejected the conclusions as "full of crap". He told Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to implement measures and put in place initiatives to catch the bastards 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 deserve a lot of praise."
Public Image
Cheney took pleasure in nicknames assigned to him by opponents such as the Star Wars villain and The Prince of Darkness, and by the notion that he was a shadow power controlling Bush. In Peter Baker's 2013 publication about the pair, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is cited as commenting: "Do I represent the malevolent mastermind in the shadows that remains unseen leave his lair? It's a advantageous way to function, actually."
Commercial Ties
Controversy over his business interests pursued him through his period as vice-president. Even though he had limited background in commerce but established relationships in military, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's biggest oil and gas conglomerates, in 1995 as chairman and chief executive.
In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's running mate for the White House. Contentiously, during the military campaign, Halliburton was granted US agreements worth substantial sums.
It significantly boosted his finances. His yearly earnings during his period at the firm grew from his $258,394 while defence secretary to $4.4m. When he left in 2000 he had a severance arrangement valued at over $20m|twenty