The former US vice-president Dick Cheney, who passed away at age 84, was seen as one of the most influential holders of the vice-presidency in the nation's history. Although countless second-in-commands were limited to marginal or symbolic positions, Cheney wielded substantial influence during the presidency of George W Bush, so much so that he was frequently called as the "true president".
Bush resented that description and said the dynamic was more nuanced. He observed that Cheney was courteous, consistently referring to him in public as Mr President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush disputed even characterisations of their relationship as a team because it suggested that they were equals. Despite these objections, Cheney considered the easygoing president accommodating on a whole raft of governmental choices.
A Period Following the Attacks
At the head of a contingent of neo-conservatives that featured defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the September 11th attacks on New York and Washington. At the time of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been participating in a meeting at a educational institution in Florida. While Bush headed for a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, ordering the downing of any unidentified airplanes heading toward the US Capitol.
Cheney said the strikes transformed him, making him become intent on retribution. Together with other neo-cons, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a invasion of Afghanistan in an effort to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the armed intervention of Iraq, although there was little proof of Saddam Hussein playing a role.
Debated Policies
He expressed no regrets about the armed intervention, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis perished, and not about the waterboarding of detainees apprehended after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was founded on faulty information repeated by Cheney, was the right path to take. "It represented the right thing to do then. I was convinced at the time and I hold that view presently."
Yet even at the time, there were dissenting voices at a senior level about the botched execution of Iraq. One of the administration's own special envoys to the Middle East, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the position. "I observed, as a baseline," he later wrote "clear negligence, negligence, and recklessness: at worst, falsehoods, incompetence, and graft."
Additional Factors
Cheney was not completely accountable for the Iraq invasion. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for such action. He had written a memo detailing situations in which national priorities might be threatened (featuring "access to crucial commodities, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "the United States should be positioned to act independently when collective action cannot be arranged," specifically mentioning armed actions against Iraq.
Bush also had arrived in the Oval Office vaguely intent on carrying out what his parent had famously refused to do in 1991; topple Saddam. Following he had been sacked by the White House, the finance chief Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the first meeting of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his intention of diminishing America's engagement in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and suggested military action against Iraq.
Bush held a personal grudge against Saddam, thinking he had been responsible for a plot to assassinate his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He also resented that one of the largest hotels in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a image of his father's countenance that everyone had to step on.
Interrogation Methods
But it was Cheney who was among the most vociferous behind attacking Iraq, repeatedly referencing intelligence reports that were either weak or entirely inaccurate. He supported what the Bush administration indirectly described as "enhanced interrogation", the use of simulated drowning and physical pressure.
Addressing a Senate report in 2014 that found that no actionable intelligence had resulted from the interrogation methods, Cheney dismissed the report as "full of crap". He told Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to implement measures and put in place initiatives to apprehend the bastards who took the lives of 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it would not recur. That is precisely what they did and they earn a lot of praise."
Public Image
Cheney took pleasure in labels given to him by critics such as Darth Vader and The Prince of Darkness, and by the notion that he was a sinister influence controlling Bush. In the journalist's 2013 publication about the two, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is quoted as saying: "Am I the malevolent mastermind in the shadows that nobody ever sees emerge from his lair? That is a effective way to function, actually."
Business Interests
Dispute over his commercial relationships accompanied him throughout his time as VP. Even though he had limited background in corporate affairs but strong connections in defence, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's biggest energy conglomerates, in 1995 as leader and top executive.
In 2000 he became Bush's running mate for the executive branch. Contentiously, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was awarded US agreements valued at multiple billions.
It made him rich. His yearly earnings during his time at the firm rose from his previous salary when he was military head to millions. When he departed in 2000 he had a package totaling in excess of $20m|twenty
