The late US vice-president Dick Cheney, who passed away at age 84, was considered arguably the most influential occupants of that position in US history. Whereas many second-in-commands were confined to marginal or ceremonial roles, Cheney held huge power during the presidency of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was commonly described as the "actual president".
Bush disliked this portrayal and stated the dynamic was more complex. He noted that Cheney was courteous, invariably referring to him in official appearances as President, while he called him as Dick. Bush challenged even characterisations of their association as a partnership because it suggested that they were peers. In spite of these denials, Cheney viewed the easygoing president malleable on a wide array of policy decisions.
A Period Following the Attacks
In charge of a contingent of neo-conservatives that included Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the military intervention of Iraq in 2003 in reaction to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. At the time of the 9/11 strike, Bush had been participating in a meeting at a elementary school in Florida. As Bush traveled to a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney took command, ordering the shooting down of any unidentified aircraft heading toward the government building.
Cheney claimed the strikes transformed him, causing him to be intent on retribution. Along with other neo-conservatives, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a invasion of Afghanistan in an effort to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then pressed fiercely for the armed intervention of Iraq, even though there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Controversial Decisions
He showed no remorse about the invasion, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, and not about the waterboarding of individuals captured after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was predicated on misleading information repeated by Cheney, was the proper decision. "It was the correct action to do at that time. I was convinced at the time and I maintain that stance now."
Yet even then, there were contrary opinions at a senior level about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the White House's own special envoys to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the role. "I saw, as a baseline," he wrote later "clear negligence, carelessness, and unaccountability: at worst, deception, incompetence, and dishonesty."
Broader Context
Cheney was not entirely accountable for the Iraq campaign. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for such action. He had written a memorandum detailing situations in which US concerns might be endangered (encompassing "availability of vital raw materials, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "America should be positioned to operate alone when joint efforts prove impossible," explicitly referencing defense operations against Iraq.
Bush additionally had assumed the presidency somewhat determined on carrying out what his father had notably declined to do in 1991; remove Saddam. After he had been dismissed by the White House, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his objective of reducing America's engagement in the Middle East dispute and proposed armed intervention against Iraq.
Bush carried a individual resentment against Saddam, convinced he had been involved in a conspiracy to kill his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore disliked that one of the most prominent establishments in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a image of his father's face that all visitors had to step on.
Interrogation Methods
Yet it was Cheney who was one of the most outspoken advocating invading Iraq, repeatedly citing information documents that were both weak or completely misleading. He endorsed what the Bush White House euphemistically referred to as "enhanced interrogation", the use of waterboarding and harsh treatment.
Responding to a Senate document in 2014 that concluded that no actionable intelligence had been obtained through the interrogation methods, Cheney dismissed the findings as "full of crap". He informed Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to take steps and establish procedures to apprehend the bastards who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it never happened again. That was specifically what they did and they merit a lot of recognition."
Public Image
Cheney reveled in nicknames given to him by detractors such as the dark character and the sinister presence, and by the concept that he was a shadow power directing Bush. In the journalist's 2013 publication about the two, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is cited as commenting: "Am I the sinister strategist in the background that nobody ever sees emerge from his lair? That is a nice way to function, actually."
Business Interests
Dispute over his corporate affiliations accompanied him through his period as second-in-command. Even though he had limited background in business but strong connections in military, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial energy corporations, in 1995 as chairman and CEO.
In 2000 he became Bush's election partner for the White House. Debatably, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was granted US agreements totaling substantial sums.
It significantly boosted his finances. His annual income during his period at the company increased from his $258,394 while defence secretary to over four million. When he departed in 2000 he had a compensation package valued at over $20m|twenty
