The late US vice-president Dick Cheney, who passed away at age 84, was regarded as one of the most influential incumbents of that office in American history. Although numerous second-in-commands had to settle for peripheral or symbolic functions, Cheney held enormous power during the term of George W Bush, so much so that he was often described as the "actual president".
Bush resented that description and said the connection was more complicated. He pointed out that Cheney was deferential, invariably addressing him in official appearances as the President, while he called him as Dick. Bush disputed even portrayals of their relationship as a partnership because it implied that they were on equal footing. Regardless of these objections, Cheney considered the laidback president malleable on a whole raft of policy decisions.
The Post-9/11 Era
Leading of a faction of conservative hawks that included defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the military intervention of Iraq in 2003 in reaction to the September 11th attacks on New York and Washington. At the time of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been attending a session at a educational institution in Florida. As Bush made his way to a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney took command, commanding the shooting down of any non-communicating planes nearing the Capitol building.
Cheney said the attacks changed him, causing him to be determined on retribution. Together with other neo-cons, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a occupation of Afghanistan in an effort to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the invasion of Iraq, though there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein playing a role.
Debated Actions
He voiced no apologies about the invasion, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis perished, nor about the harsh treatment of suspects apprehended after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was based on inaccurate intelligence echoed by Cheney, was the proper path to take. "It represented the correct action to do at that time. I was convinced then and I maintain that stance now."
Yet even then, there were opposing views at a top tier about the botched execution of Iraq. One of the White House's own delegates to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the position. "I saw, as a baseline," he later wrote "clear negligence, negligence, and recklessness: at worst, deception, incompetence, and graft."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not solely responsible for the Iraq invasion. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for comparable steps. He had composed a document detailing scenarios in which American interests might be compromised (featuring "availability of crucial commodities, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "the US should be positioned to operate alone when joint efforts cannot be orchestrated," explicitly mentioning armed actions against Iraq.
Bush too had assumed the White House vaguely intent on executing what his predecessor had famously refused to do in 1991; topple Saddam. Following he had been fired by the administration, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the first meeting of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had announced his intention of reducing America's involvement in the Middle East dispute and suggested military action against Iraq.
Bush bore a private grievance against Saddam, believing he had been behind a plot to assassinate his father, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally objected to that one of the largest establishments in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a image of his parent's face that each person had to tread upon.
Questioning Techniques
Yet it was Cheney who was one of the most vociferous supporting attacking Iraq, consistently citing intelligence reports that were whether thin or completely inaccurate. He backed what the Bush administration politely called as "enhanced interrogation", the employment of simulated drowning and physical pressure.
Responding to a Senate analysis in 2014 that determined that no actionable intelligence had come from the interrogation methods, Cheney dismissed the findings as "full of crap". He informed Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to establish protocols and create procedures to apprehend the bastards who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it would not recur. That is precisely what they did and they merit a lot of recognition."
External Perception
Cheney took pleasure in monikers assigned to him by critics such as the Star Wars villain and the dark figure, and by the concept that he was a shadow power manipulating Bush. In the journalist's 2013 publication about the duo, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is cited as commenting: "Is it me who is the evil genius in the shadows that nobody ever sees come out of his lair? That is a nice way to operate, actually."
Commercial Ties
Dispute over his commercial relationships followed him during his tenure as VP. While he had limited background in corporate affairs but good contacts in defence, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's largest oil and gas conglomerates, in 1995 as leader and CEO.
In 2000 he was selected as Bush's election partner for the White House. Controversially, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was granted US deals valued at billions.
It significantly boosted his finances. His yearly compensation during his time at the firm rose from his $258,394 while defence secretary to millions. When he left in 2000 he had a package worth over $20m|twenty
