The late US vice-president Dick Cheney, who passed away at age 84, was seen as one of the most powerful occupants of that office in US history. While countless vice-presidents were limited to minor or figurehead roles, Cheney wielded huge influence during the administration of George W Bush, to the point that he was commonly called as the "real president".
Bush objected to such a characterisation and claimed the connection was more nuanced. He pointed out that Cheney was deferential, always referring to him in official appearances as President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush challenged even characterisations of their relationship as a partnership because it implied that they were equals. In spite of these denials, Cheney viewed the laidback president malleable on a broad range of administrative determinations.
A Post-9/11 Era
In charge of a contingent of neo-conservatives that included Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the military intervention of Iraq in 2003 in response to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 assault, Bush had been attending a gathering at a elementary school in Florida. As Bush traveled to a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, directing the downing of any unresponsive planes heading toward the Capitol building.
Cheney stated the strikes transformed him, causing him to be determined on retaliation. In conjunction with other neo-conservatives, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a occupation of Afghanistan in an endeavor to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the invasion of Iraq, although there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Controversial Decisions
He voiced no apologies about the invasion, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis perished, or about the enhanced interrogation of individuals apprehended after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was predicated on inaccurate intelligence repeated by Cheney, was the correct path to take. "It proved to be the proper decision to do back then. I had faith then and I hold that view today."
However even then, there were contrary opinions at a high level about the botched execution of Iraq. One of the government's own representatives to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the role. "I saw, at a minimum," he later wrote "true dereliction, carelessness, and unaccountability: at worst, lying, unfitness, and graft."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not solely responsible for the Iraq campaign. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for similar measures. He had written a document outlining scenarios in which national priorities might be endangered (including "availability of vital raw materials, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "the US should be positioned to act independently when joint efforts prove impossible," particularly mentioning armed actions against Iraq.
Bush additionally had entered the Oval Office vaguely intent on executing what his father had notably declined to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. Following he had been sacked by the president, the finance chief Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his objective of lowering America's engagement in the Middle East dispute and suggested defense operations against Iraq.
Bush held a personal grudge against Saddam, thinking he had been responsible for a plot to murder his father, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally objected to that one of the most prominent accommodations in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a portrait of his father's face that each person had to walk over.
Questioning Techniques
However it was Cheney who was one of the most outspoken advocating striking Iraq, repeatedly quoting intelligence reports that were whether weak or completely inaccurate. He backed what the Bush administration indirectly described as "advanced techniques", the application of interrogation method and torture.
Addressing a Senate analysis in 2014 that determined that no useful information had been obtained through the interrogation methods, Cheney disregarded the report as "loaded with crap". He informed Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to take steps and establish programmes to apprehend the individuals who took the lives of 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it would not recur. That was specifically what they did and they deserve a lot of praise."
Public Persona
Cheney enjoyed monikers assigned to him by opponents such as the Star Wars villain and the dark figure, and by the idea that he was a dark force directing Bush. In the journalist's 2013 book about the two, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is cited as commenting: "Do I represent the evil genius in the background that remains unseen emerge from his lair? That is a effective way to operate, in fact."
Commercial Ties
Debate over his commercial relationships pursued him through his period as second-in-command. While he had little experience in corporate affairs but established relationships in military, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's largest oil and gas companies, in 1995 as chair and chief executive.
In 2000 he was selected as Bush's election partner for the executive branch. Controversially, during the military campaign, Halliburton was given US agreements totaling substantial sums.
It greatly increased his wealth. His yearly earnings during his period at the corporation grew from his previous salary during his time as defence secretary to millions. When he left in 2000 he had a compensation package valued at in excess of $20m|twenty
