The deceased US vice-president Dick Cheney, who passed away at age 84, was seen as among the most powerful occupants of that office in US history. Although numerous second-in-commands were limited to peripheral or figurehead functions, Cheney held enormous power during the term of George W Bush, to the point that he was often described as the "true president".
Bush objected to such a characterisation and said the connection was more complicated. He observed that Cheney was courteous, invariably referring to him in public as President, while he called him as Dick. Bush questioned even characterisations of their relationship as a team because it suggested that they were on equal footing. Despite these denials, Cheney found the laidback president malleable on a wide array of administrative determinations.
The Post-9/11 Era
Leading of a group of conservative hawks that encompassed defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the invasion of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. At the time of the 9/11 assault, Bush had been participating in a session at a elementary school in Florida. Whereas Bush made his way to a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, ordering the shooting down of any unidentified aircraft nearing the government building.
Cheney stated the attacks altered his perspective, making him become focused on retaliation. In conjunction with other conservative figures, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a invasion of Afghanistan in an endeavor to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the armed intervention of Iraq, even though there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Controversial Policies
He showed no remorse about the military campaign, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis died, nor about the harsh treatment of individuals apprehended after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was based on inaccurate intelligence circulated by Cheney, was the correct path to take. "It proved to be the correct action to do at that time. I believed it then and I maintain that stance today."
But during that period, there were dissenting voices at a top tier about the poor management of Iraq. One of the administration's own representatives to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the role. "I saw, as a baseline," he wrote later "obvious failure, inaction, and irresponsibility: in the worst case, lying, ineptitude, and dishonesty."
Broader Context
Cheney was not solely responsible for the Iraq campaign. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for comparable steps. He had drafted a memorandum outlining situations in which US concerns might be endangered (including "availability of crucial commodities, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "America should be positioned to act independently when joint efforts prove impossible," specifically mentioning armed actions against Iraq.
Bush additionally had entered the Oval Office somewhat determined on executing what his predecessor had famously refused to do in 1991; topple Saddam. Following he had been dismissed 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 diminishing America's involvement in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and suggested military action against Iraq.
Bush held a private grievance against Saddam, believing he had been behind a conspiracy to kill his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He also resented that one of the biggest accommodations in Baghdad had a ground design with a likeness of his parent's visage that all visitors had to step on.
Interrogation Methods
Yet it was Cheney who was part of the most vociferous supporting invading Iraq, consistently referencing agency briefings that were either insubstantial or entirely deceptive. He supported what the Bush administration euphemistically referred to as "intensive questioning", the application of waterboarding and torture.
Answering a Senate report in 2014 that found that no valuable data had resulted from the interrogation methods, Cheney dismissed the report as "riddled with crap". He told Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to implement measures and establish procedures to catch the perpetrators who took the lives of 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it never happened again. That was specifically what they did and they earn a lot of praise."
Public Image
Cheney enjoyed nicknames given to him by critics such as Darth Vader and the dark figure, and by the idea that he was a sinister influence controlling Bush. In the author's 2013 volume 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 shadows that nobody ever sees emerge from his hole? This represents a nice way to operate, in fact."
Corporate Connections
Debate over his corporate affiliations accompanied him throughout his time as second-in-command. Even though he had limited background in business but established relationships in defence, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial oil and gas companies, in 1995 as chairman and CEO.
In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's running mate for the executive branch. Contentiously, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was given US contracts totaling multiple billions.
It greatly increased his wealth. His yearly compensation during his period at the company increased from his $258,394 while military head to $4.4m. When he left in 2000 he had a compensation package worth in excess of $20m|twenty
