The former US vice-president Dick Cheney, who died at the age of 84, was regarded as among the most influential incumbents of that position in the nation's history. Whereas numerous second-in-commands were confined to marginal or ceremonial roles, Cheney wielded huge influence during the presidency of George W Bush, to the point that he was commonly referred to as the "true president".
Bush disliked such a characterisation and said the dynamic was more complicated. He observed that Cheney was deferential, always calling him in public settings as President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush disputed even characterisations of their relationship as a partnership because it implied that they were equals. Despite these objections, Cheney viewed the easygoing president malleable on a broad range of governmental choices.
The Post-9/11 Era
At the head of a contingent of neo-conservatives that included military head Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been participating in a session at a elementary school in Florida. As Bush made his way to a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney took command, ordering the downing of any non-communicating airplanes nearing the Capitol building.
Cheney stated the assaults changed him, making him become focused on retaliation. Together with other neo-conservatives, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a invasion of Afghanistan in an endeavor to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the armed intervention of Iraq, even though there was little proof of Saddam Hussein having involvement.
Disputed Actions
He expressed no regrets about the armed intervention, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis perished, and not about the waterboarding of detainees apprehended after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was founded on misleading reports echoed by Cheney, was the correct decision. "It was the proper decision to do at that time. I believed it at the time and I hold that view presently."
But even at the time, there were dissenting voices at a top tier about the poor management of Iraq. One of the government's own special envoys to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the position. "I observed, at a minimum," he wrote later "obvious failure, inaction, and irresponsibility: at worst, deception, incompetence, and corruption."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not entirely responsible for the Iraq campaign. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for such action. He had written a memo detailing scenarios in which American interests might be endangered (including "availability of vital raw materials, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "America should be prepared to act independently when joint efforts prove impossible," particularly citing armed actions against Iraq.
Bush additionally had entered the White House generally inclined on executing what his predecessor had famously refused to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. Subsequent to he had been fired by the White House, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill disclosed how, at the first meeting of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his plan of lowering America's engagement in the regional tensions and mooted defense operations against Iraq.
Bush held a individual resentment against Saddam, believing he had been responsible for a conspiracy to assassinate his father, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore objected to that one of the largest accommodations in Baghdad had a ground design with a image of his parent's countenance that all visitors had to step on.
Questioning Techniques
Yet it was Cheney who was part of the most vehement supporting invading Iraq, repeatedly referencing agency briefings that were both insubstantial or totally misleading. He backed what the Bush government politely called as "intensive questioning", the employment of simulated drowning and physical pressure.
Responding to a Senate document in 2014 that determined that no valuable data had come from the torture, Cheney dismissed the conclusions as "riddled with crap". He informed Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to implement measures and create initiatives to catch the perpetrators who murdered 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 praise."
Public Image
Cheney reveled in monikers imposed on him by critics such as the Star Wars villain and the dark figure, and by the notion that he was a dark force directing Bush. In Peter Baker's 2013 volume about the two, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is reported as stating: "Is it me who is the sinister strategist in the corner that nobody ever sees emerge from his lair? That is a nice way to operate, actually."
Corporate Connections
Dispute over his business interests accompanied him through his period as VP. Although he had minimal expertise in corporate affairs but good contacts in military, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's biggest oil and gas companies, in 1995 as leader and top executive.
In 2000 he was selected as Bush's running mate for the presidency. Controversially, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was granted US deals valued at multiple billions.
It greatly increased his wealth. His annual income during his period at the company grew from his quarter-million dollars during his time as defence secretary to $4.4m. When he departed in 2000 he had a compensation package totaling in excess of $20m|twenty
