The late US vice-president Dick Cheney, who died at the age of 84, was regarded as one of the most powerful occupants of the vice-presidency in American history. While many second-in-commands had to settle for peripheral or symbolic positions, Cheney held enormous power during the term of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was often referred to as the "true president".
Bush objected to such a characterisation and said the dynamic was more complicated. He noted that Cheney was respectful, consistently referring to him in public settings as Mr President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush questioned even descriptions of their association as a partnership because it indicated that they were peers. In spite of these denials, Cheney viewed the relaxed president malleable on a wide array of governmental choices.
The Post-9/11 Era
In charge of a group of neo-conservatives that included Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the invasion of Iraq in 2003 in response to the September 11th attacks on New York and Washington. During of the 9/11 strike, Bush had been taking part in a gathering at a school in Florida. As Bush traveled to a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, ordering the destruction of any non-communicating aircraft heading toward the government building.
Cheney said the assaults changed him, causing him to be focused on retaliation. Along with other conservative figures, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a occupation of Afghanistan in an effort to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the invasion of Iraq, although there was little proof of Saddam Hussein playing a role.
Debated Policies
He showed no remorse about the military campaign, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis perished, and not about the harsh treatment of suspects rounded up after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was predicated on faulty intelligence echoed by Cheney, was the proper decision. "It proved to be the proper decision to do then. I believed it back then and I maintain that stance now."
However even then, there were contrary opinions at a high level about the botched execution of Iraq. One of the administration's own representatives to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the role. "I observed, at a minimum," he subsequently stated "obvious failure, inaction, and irresponsibility: at worst, deception, unfitness, and graft."
Additional Factors
Cheney was not solely responsible for the Iraq invasion. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for such action. He had composed a document detailing situations in which national priorities might be threatened (featuring "obtaining crucial commodities, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "the United States should be positioned to operate alone when cooperative measures cannot be orchestrated," specifically referencing armed actions against Iraq.
Bush too had arrived in the White House generally inclined on implementing what his parent had notably declined to do in 1991; topple Saddam. Following he had been fired by the administration, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill disclosed how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had announced his objective of diminishing America's participation in the regional tensions and proposed armed intervention against Iraq.
Bush bore a personal grudge against Saddam, convinced he had been involved in a plot to assassinate his parent, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore resented that one of the largest hotels in Baghdad had a ground design with a image of his predecessor's visage that everyone had to walk over.
Questioning Techniques
But it was Cheney who was part of the most outspoken advocating striking Iraq, repeatedly quoting information documents that were whether weak or entirely misleading. He supported what the Bush administration indirectly described as "intensive questioning", the employment of interrogation method and physical pressure.
Responding to a Senate document in 2014 that determined that no useful information had been obtained through the harsh techniques, Cheney dismissed the findings as "loaded with crap". He stated to Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to implement measures and create programmes to catch the perpetrators who took the lives of 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it never happened again. That's exactly what they did and they earn a lot of recognition."
Public Image
Cheney took pleasure in monikers given to him by detractors such as the dark character and the sinister presence, and by the notion that he was a sinister influence directing Bush. In Peter Baker's 2013 volume 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 corner that remains unseen come out of his domain? That is a effective way to work, actually."
Corporate Connections
Controversy over his business interests accompanied him during his tenure as vice-president. While he had little experience in corporate affairs but good contacts in security, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial petroleum conglomerates, in 1995 as leader and CEO.
In 2000 he became Bush's election partner for the White House. Debatably, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was awarded US agreements valued at billions.
It greatly increased his wealth. His yearly compensation during his tenure at the corporation increased from his previous salary while defence secretary to millions. When he departed in 2000 he had a package worth more than $20m|twenty
