The deceased US vice-president Dick Cheney, who died at the age of 84, was considered arguably the most influential incumbents of the vice-presidency in US history. Although numerous second-in-commands were confined to marginal or symbolic roles, Cheney exercised huge power during the administration of George W Bush, to the point that he was frequently referred to as the "true president".
Bush resented this portrayal and said the dynamic was more complex. He noted that Cheney was respectful, invariably referring to him in official appearances as President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush challenged even characterisations of their association as a partnership because it suggested that they were on equal footing. Despite these denials, Cheney found the relaxed president malleable on a broad range of policy decisions.
The Post-9/11 Era
At the head of a contingent of conservative hawks that featured Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the invasion of Iraq in 2003 in reaction to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. At the time of the 9/11 strike, Bush had been taking part in a meeting at a educational institution in Florida. Whereas Bush traveled to a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, directing the destruction of any unidentified aircraft approaching the government building.
Cheney claimed the strikes transformed him, leading him to become focused on retribution. Together with other neo-conservatives, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a invasion of Afghanistan in an endeavor to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the military action of Iraq, though there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Debated Decisions
He showed no remorse about the invasion, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis perished, and not about the enhanced interrogation of individuals captured after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was based on faulty intelligence circulated by Cheney, was the right decision. "It represented the proper decision to do back then. I had faith then and I believe it now."
But even at the time, there were opposing views at a top tier about the botched execution of Iraq. One of the White House's own representatives to the Middle East, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the position. "I observed, at a minimum," he wrote later "clear negligence, carelessness, and recklessness: potentially, lying, ineptitude, and corruption."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not completely accountable for the Iraq invasion. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for similar measures. He had written a memorandum detailing situations in which US concerns might be threatened (including "access to vital raw materials, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "the United States should be positioned to take unilateral action when joint efforts prove impossible," particularly mentioning armed actions against Iraq.
Bush additionally had assumed the Oval Office somewhat determined on carrying out what his predecessor had famously refused to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. Subsequent to he had been fired by the president, the finance chief Paul O'Neill disclosed how, at the first meeting of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had announced his plan of diminishing America's participation in the Middle East dispute and proposed armed intervention against Iraq.
Bush carried a individual resentment against Saddam, believing he had been involved in a conspiracy to murder his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore resented that one of the most prominent hotels in Baghdad had a floor mural with a portrait of his father's visage that each person had to tread upon.
Questioning Techniques
Yet it was Cheney who was one of the most vociferous advocating attacking Iraq, frequently citing agency briefings that were whether thin or completely misleading. He endorsed what the Bush government indirectly described as "advanced techniques", the employment of simulated drowning and torture.
Responding to a Senate analysis in 2014 that concluded that no useful information had resulted from the torture, Cheney disregarded the findings as "loaded with crap". He informed Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to implement measures and put in place initiatives to apprehend the perpetrators who took the lives of 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it never happened again. That is precisely what they did and they deserve a lot of recognition."
Public Image
Cheney took pleasure in labels assigned to him by detractors such as the dark character and the sinister presence, and by the idea that he was a dark force controlling Bush. In Peter Baker's 2013 publication about the pair, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is reported as stating: "Am I the evil genius in the corner that remains unseen emerge from his domain? This represents a nice way to work, actually."
Commercial Ties
Debate over his business interests accompanied him during his tenure as second-in-command. Although he had limited background in business but strong connections in military, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's largest energy conglomerates, in 1995 as chairman and top executive.
In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's running mate for the presidency. Controversially, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was given US agreements totaling substantial sums.
It greatly increased his wealth. His yearly earnings during his period at the company grew from his quarter-million dollars while Pentagon chief to millions. When he resigned in 2000 he had a package totaling more than $20m|twenty
