The deceased US vice-president Dick Cheney, who died at the age of 84, was considered one of the most powerful occupants of that position in American history. Whereas countless vice-presidents were limited to peripheral or ceremonial positions, Cheney exercised enormous influence during the term of George W Bush, so much so that he was often referred to as the "actual president".
Bush disliked such a characterisation and claimed the relationship was more complex. He noted 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. Despite these denials, Cheney considered the relaxed president malleable on a whole raft of governmental choices.
A Period Following the Attacks
In charge of a contingent of conservative hawks that featured Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in reaction to the September 11th attacks on New York and Washington. During of the 9/11 assault, Bush had been taking part in a gathering at a school in Florida. While Bush made his way to a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney took command, commanding the destruction of any unidentified airplanes nearing the US Capitol.
Cheney claimed the assaults transformed him, making him become focused on retaliation. Along with other neo-cons, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a takeover of Afghanistan in an endeavor to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the armed intervention of Iraq, though there was little proof of Saddam Hussein playing a role.
Debated Decisions
He showed no remorse about the military campaign, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis perished, or about the enhanced interrogation of suspects apprehended after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was predicated on faulty reports circulated by Cheney, was the correct path to take. "It proved to be the proper decision to do then. I was convinced at the time and I hold that view presently."
But even then, there were dissenting voices at a top tier about the poor management of Iraq. One of the administration's own special envoys to the Middle East, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the role. "I saw, as a baseline," he later wrote "true dereliction, inaction, and recklessness: at worst, falsehoods, unfitness, and corruption."
Broader Context
Cheney was not solely responsible for the Iraq military action. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for similar measures. He had composed a memorandum outlining situations in which US concerns might be compromised (encompassing "access to vital raw materials, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "the US should be positioned to act independently when joint efforts prove impossible," particularly citing armed actions against Iraq.
Bush additionally had arrived in the presidency generally inclined on implementing what his parent had notably declined to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. Following he had been dismissed by the White House, the finance chief Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his plan of diminishing America's engagement in the Middle East dispute and suggested defense operations against Iraq.
Bush held a private grievance against Saddam, thinking he had been involved in a scheme to kill his father, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore objected to that one of the largest establishments in Baghdad had a floor mural with a likeness of his father's visage that each person had to step on.
Questioning Techniques
However it was Cheney who was part of the most vociferous supporting invading Iraq, frequently citing agency briefings that were either insubstantial or entirely misleading. He backed what the Bush administration euphemistically referred to as "enhanced interrogation", the application of simulated drowning and harsh treatment.
Answering a Senate report in 2014 that determined that no actionable intelligence had come from the torture, Cheney dismissed the report as "full of crap". He informed Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to take steps and create procedures to apprehend the perpetrators who took the lives of 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it would not recur. That's exactly what they did and they deserve a lot of credit."
Public Persona
Cheney enjoyed labels assigned to him by critics such as the Star Wars villain and the dark figure, and by the notion that he was a shadow power directing Bush. In Peter Baker's 2013 publication about the two, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is quoted as saying: "Is it me who is the sinister strategist in the background that remains unseen emerge from his domain? This represents a advantageous way to function, actually."
Business Interests
Dispute over his business interests followed him throughout his time as second-in-command. Although he had little experience in business but strong connections in defence, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join 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 running mate for the executive branch. Debatably, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was awarded US agreements totaling multiple billions.
It significantly boosted his finances. His annual income during his tenure at the company increased from his previous salary while defence secretary to millions. When he left in 2000 he had a compensation package worth in excess of $20m|twenty
