The former US vice-president Dick Cheney, who died at the age of 84, was seen as arguably the most significant incumbents of the vice-presidency in US history. Although many second-in-commands were limited to peripheral or symbolic roles, Cheney wielded huge influence during the presidency of George W Bush, to the point that he was commonly referred to as the "real president".
Bush resented that description and said the connection was more complicated. He noted that Cheney was deferential, always calling him in public as the President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush challenged even portrayals of their relationship as a collaboration because it suggested that they were equals. Regardless of these objections, Cheney considered the laidback president malleable on a wide array of policy decisions.
The Aftermath of 9/11
At the head of a faction of neo-cons that featured defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the invasion of Iraq in 2003 in response to the September 11th attacks on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been taking part in a meeting at a school in Florida. Whereas Bush headed for a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney took command, directing the shooting down of any unresponsive planes heading toward the government building.
Cheney claimed the strikes altered his perspective, leading him to become determined on retribution. In conjunction with other neo-cons, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a takeover of Afghanistan in an endeavor to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then pressed fiercely for the armed intervention of Iraq, though there was little proof of Saddam Hussein playing a role.
Disputed Decisions
He voiced no apologies about the military campaign, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, or about the enhanced interrogation of suspects rounded up after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was based on faulty reports repeated by Cheney, was the correct decision. "It was the correct action to do at that time. I believed it at the time and I believe it today."
However even at the time, there were contrary opinions at a top tier about the botched execution of Iraq. One of the government's own special envoys to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the post. "I observed, at the very least," he subsequently stated "clear negligence, inaction, and unaccountability: potentially, falsehoods, incompetence, and dishonesty."
Broader Context
Cheney was not completely to blame for the Iraq invasion. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for such action. He had drafted a document outlining situations in which American interests might be endangered (encompassing "obtaining vital raw materials, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "the United States should be prepared to act independently when collective action cannot be orchestrated," particularly mentioning armed actions against Iraq.
Bush too had arrived in the White House somewhat determined on executing what his parent had notably declined to do in 1991; remove Saddam. After he had been dismissed by the White House, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the first meeting of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his objective of reducing America's involvement in the Middle East dispute and proposed defense operations against Iraq.
Bush carried a individual resentment against Saddam, convinced he had been involved in a scheme to assassinate his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He also objected to that one of the most prominent establishments in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a image of his father's visage that all visitors had to walk over.
Questioning Techniques
Yet it was Cheney who was part of the most vociferous supporting striking Iraq, frequently referencing intelligence reports that were both weak or totally misleading. He supported what the Bush White House euphemistically referred to as "enhanced interrogation", the employment of interrogation method and physical pressure.
Responding to a Senate analysis in 2014 that concluded that no valuable data had been obtained through the interrogation methods, Cheney rejected the findings as "full of crap". He stated to Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to implement measures and put in place initiatives to apprehend the individuals who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it would not recur. That is precisely what they did and they deserve a lot of credit."
Public Image
Cheney took pleasure in nicknames assigned to him by critics such as Darth Vader and the sinister presence, and by the idea that he was a dark force controlling Bush. In the author's 2013 publication about the two, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is reported as stating: "Am I the evil genius in the corner that operates invisibly come out of his hole? That is a advantageous way to operate, actually."
Corporate Connections
Controversy over his commercial relationships followed him throughout his time as VP. While he had limited background in business but good contacts in defence, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial petroleum conglomerates, in 1995 as chairman and CEO.
In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's election partner for the presidency. Controversially, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was given US contracts valued at multiple billions.
It significantly boosted his finances. His yearly compensation during his tenure at the firm increased from his previous salary when he was military head to $4.4m. When he left in 2000 he had a compensation package totaling more than $20m|twenty
