The late US vice-president Dick Cheney, who passed away at age 84, was considered among the most influential occupants of the vice-presidency in the nation's history. Whereas numerous vice-presidents had to settle for marginal or ceremonial positions, Cheney held substantial power during the term of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was often referred to as the "actual president".
Bush objected to such a characterisation and said the relationship was more nuanced. He noted that Cheney was deferential, always referring to him in public settings as President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush questioned even characterisations of their partnership as a partnership because it suggested that they were peers. In spite of these denials, Cheney considered the relaxed president pliable on a wide array of policy decisions.
A Aftermath of 9/11
Leading of a group of neo-cons that encompassed defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the military intervention of Iraq in 2003 in response to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. During of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been attending a gathering at a elementary school in Florida. As Bush headed for a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, ordering the downing of any non-communicating airplanes nearing the government building.
Cheney stated the attacks transformed him, causing him to be determined on revenge. In conjunction with other conservative figures, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a invasion of Afghanistan in an effort to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then pressed fiercely for the armed intervention of Iraq, even though there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein playing a role.
Controversial Decisions
He expressed no regrets about the military campaign, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis died, or about the harsh treatment of individuals apprehended after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was based on misleading information circulated by Cheney, was the correct decision. "It represented the correct action to do then. I had faith at the time and I hold that view now."
But even then, there were opposing views at a top tier about the botched execution of Iraq. One of the administration's own special envoys to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the role. "I observed, at the very least," he later wrote "true dereliction, inaction, and irresponsibility: at worst, deception, unfitness, and corruption."
Additional Factors
Cheney was not entirely responsible for the Iraq campaign. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for comparable steps. He had written a memo outlining situations in which US concerns might be threatened (including "obtaining vital raw materials, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "America should be positioned to operate alone when cooperative measures cannot be orchestrated," specifically mentioning military moves against Iraq.
Bush too had entered the presidency somewhat determined on executing what his predecessor had notably declined to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. Following he had been dismissed by the president, the finance chief Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his intention of diminishing America's involvement in the Middle East dispute and mooted military action against Iraq.
Bush bore a private grievance against Saddam, believing he had been responsible for a scheme to kill his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore resented that one of the most prominent accommodations in Baghdad had a floor mural with a likeness of his father's countenance that all visitors had to tread upon.
Questioning Techniques
However it was Cheney who was one of the most vehement advocating striking Iraq, consistently referencing intelligence reports that were either weak or entirely inaccurate. He backed what the Bush White House indirectly described as "intensive questioning", the application of simulated drowning and harsh treatment.
Addressing a Senate report in 2014 that concluded that no valuable data had come from the torture, Cheney dismissed the conclusions as "loaded with crap". He stated to Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to establish protocols and create initiatives to apprehend the bastards who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it was not repeated. That's exactly what they did and they deserve a lot of credit."
Public Image
Cheney enjoyed monikers assigned to him by detractors such as the dark character and The Prince of Darkness, and by the idea that he was a dark force directing Bush. In the author's 2013 book about the pair, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is reported as stating: "Do I represent the sinister strategist in the background that remains unseen come out of his domain? That is a nice way to function, actually."
Commercial Ties
Debate over his business interests accompanied him throughout his time as second-in-command. Even though he had minimal expertise in business but good contacts in security, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial petroleum corporations, in 1995 as chair and CEO.
In 2000 he was selected as Bush's running mate for the presidency. Contentiously, during the military campaign, Halliburton was given US deals valued at substantial sums.
It greatly increased his wealth. His yearly compensation during his period at the corporation rose from his previous salary when he was defence secretary to over four million. When he resigned in 2000 he had a package valued at in excess of $20m|twenty
