The late US vice-president Dick Cheney, who died at age 84, was regarded as one of the most influential holders of that position in US history. Whereas countless VPs had to settle for marginal or ceremonial positions, Cheney held enormous power during the administration of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was frequently called as the "true president".
Bush disliked such a characterisation and said the dynamic was more complicated. He noted that Cheney was courteous, always referring to him in official appearances as Mr President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush disputed even descriptions of their partnership as a partnership because it indicated that they were on equal footing. Regardless of these denials, Cheney viewed the easygoing president pliable on a broad range of administrative determinations.
The Aftermath of 9/11
Leading of a contingent of neo-cons that featured Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. During of the 9/11 assault, Bush had been participating in a gathering at a school in Florida. While Bush made his way to a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney took command, ordering the shooting down of any non-communicating airplanes heading toward the Capitol building.
Cheney said the attacks transformed him, leading him to become determined on revenge. Along with other conservative figures, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a takeover of Afghanistan in an attempt to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the military action of Iraq, although there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein playing a role.
Controversial Actions
He showed no remorse about the military campaign, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis perished, and not about the harsh treatment of individuals captured after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was founded on misleading information circulated by Cheney, was the correct path to take. "It was the right thing to do back then. I believed it at the time and I believe it now."
But even at the time, there were dissenting voices at a senior level about the botched execution of Iraq. One of the administration's own delegates to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the position. "I witnessed, at a minimum," he subsequently stated "clear negligence, inaction, and recklessness: potentially, lying, ineptitude, and graft."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not entirely to blame for the Iraq invasion. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for such action. He had written a memo detailing situations in which national priorities might be compromised (featuring "access to vital raw materials, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "America should be positioned to operate alone when cooperative measures cannot be arranged," particularly citing armed actions against Iraq.
Bush too had assumed the presidency vaguely intent on executing what his parent had notably declined to do in 1991; topple Saddam. Subsequent to he had been sacked by the White House, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his objective of lowering America's engagement in the Middle East dispute and proposed armed intervention against Iraq.
Bush bore a private grievance against Saddam, convinced he had been behind a conspiracy to kill his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally resented that one of the most prominent establishments in Baghdad had a floor mural with a image of his father's visage that all visitors had to walk over.
Questioning Techniques
Yet it was Cheney who was among the most vehement behind attacking Iraq, frequently referencing intelligence reports that were both weak or totally misleading. He backed what the Bush government indirectly described as "intensive questioning", the use of waterboarding and physical pressure.
Answering a Senate document in 2014 that determined that no useful information had come from the harsh techniques, Cheney disregarded the report as "riddled with crap". He informed Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to establish protocols and establish programmes to catch the perpetrators who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it was not repeated. That was specifically what they did and they earn a lot of credit."
External Perception
Cheney took pleasure in labels imposed on him by detractors such as the dark character and The Prince of Darkness, and by the notion that he was a dark force controlling Bush. In the journalist'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 evil genius in the background that operates invisibly emerge from his hole? That is a effective way to function, in fact."
Corporate Connections
Controversy over his business interests accompanied him throughout his time as second-in-command. While he had minimal expertise in business but established relationships in defence, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join 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 VP candidate for the presidency. Contentiously, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was awarded US deals worth multiple billions.
It greatly increased his wealth. His yearly compensation during his time at the firm increased from his quarter-million dollars while Pentagon chief to over four million. When he departed in 2000 he had a compensation package totaling more than $20m|twenty
