The deceased US vice-president Dick Cheney, who passed away at age 84, was seen as arguably the most powerful occupants of the vice-presidency in US history. While numerous second-in-commands were limited to peripheral or symbolic positions, Cheney wielded huge influence during the administration of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was commonly described as the "actual president".
Bush resented such a characterisation and said the relationship was more complex. He noted that Cheney was respectful, invariably calling him in public as the President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush challenged even characterisations of their partnership as a team because it implied that they were equals. Despite these objections, Cheney viewed the relaxed president malleable on a whole raft of governmental choices.
The Post-9/11 Era
Leading of a faction of conservative hawks that included Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the invasion of Iraq in 2003 in response to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. During of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been participating in a gathering at a educational institution in Florida. As Bush headed for a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney took command, directing the downing of any non-communicating planes heading toward the US Capitol.
Cheney stated the strikes altered his perspective, leading him to become determined on retaliation. Together with other neo-conservatives, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a takeover of Afghanistan in an attempt to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the armed intervention of Iraq, though there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein having involvement.
Controversial Policies
He showed no remorse about the invasion, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis died, and not about the enhanced interrogation of individuals apprehended after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was predicated on inaccurate information repeated by Cheney, was the proper decision. "It represented the proper decision to do then. I had faith at the time and I hold that view now."
But even then, there were opposing views at a high level about the botched execution of Iraq. One of the administration's own delegates to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the role. "I saw, at the very least," he subsequently stated "clear negligence, inaction, and unaccountability: at worst, deception, incompetence, and dishonesty."
Broader Context
Cheney was not entirely responsible for the Iraq military action. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for such action. He had drafted a memorandum outlining circumstances in which national priorities might be compromised (encompassing "obtaining essential resources, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "the US should be postured to act independently when cooperative measures cannot be orchestrated," particularly mentioning armed actions against Iraq.
Bush additionally had assumed the presidency generally inclined on executing what his father had specifically avoided to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. After he had been sacked by the president, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the first meeting of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his plan of lowering America's participation in the Middle East dispute and proposed defense operations against Iraq.
Bush bore a personal grudge against Saddam, thinking he had been behind a conspiracy to assassinate his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore objected to that one of the biggest establishments in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a image of his father's countenance that all visitors had to walk over.
Questioning Techniques
But it was Cheney who was part of the most outspoken advocating attacking Iraq, frequently citing agency briefings that were both insubstantial or entirely misleading. He backed what the Bush government politely called as "advanced techniques", the employment of waterboarding and torture.
Responding to a Senate document in 2014 that determined that no valuable data had resulted from the interrogation methods, Cheney rejected the findings as "full of crap". He told Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to take steps and create procedures to apprehend the individuals who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it never happened again. That is precisely what they did and they deserve a lot of credit."
Public Image
Cheney took pleasure in labels assigned to him by detractors such as the Star Wars villain and the dark figure, and by the idea that he was a dark force manipulating Bush. In Peter Baker's 2013 book about the duo, 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 shadows that operates invisibly emerge from his hole? This represents a effective way to work, truthfully."
Business Interests
Controversy over his corporate affiliations pursued him through his period as second-in-command. Although he had minimal expertise in business but good contacts in defence, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's largest energy companies, in 1995 as leader and CEO.
In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's VP candidate for the presidency. Controversially, during the military campaign, Halliburton was granted US deals totaling substantial sums.
It made him rich. His yearly earnings during his tenure at the company increased from his previous salary while military head to over four million. When he resigned in 2000 he had a package totaling in excess of $20m|twenty
