The late US VP Dick Cheney, who died at the age of 84, was seen as arguably the most powerful occupants of that office in US history. Whereas many second-in-commands were limited to marginal or symbolic functions, Cheney exercised huge sway during the presidency of George W Bush, to the point that he was frequently referred to as the "real president".
Bush disliked such a characterisation and stated the relationship was more complex. He observed that Cheney was courteous, invariably calling him in public as President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush challenged even descriptions of their relationship as a team because it implied that they were equals. Regardless of these objections, Cheney found the laidback president accommodating on a broad range of policy decisions.
A Aftermath of 9/11
In charge of a contingent of neo-cons that encompassed military head Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in reaction to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. During of the 9/11 assault, Bush had been taking part in a session at a educational institution in Florida. Whereas Bush traveled to a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, commanding the downing of any unresponsive airplanes nearing the US Capitol.
Cheney stated the strikes altered his perspective, causing him to be intent on retribution. Along with other neo-conservatives, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a takeover of Afghanistan in an effort to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then pressed fiercely for the military action of Iraq, although there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein having involvement.
Debated Actions
He showed no remorse about the invasion, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis died, nor about the enhanced interrogation of suspects apprehended after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was based on faulty reports repeated by Cheney, was the correct decision. "It was the correct action to do back then. I had faith then and I maintain that stance today."
However during that period, there were opposing views at a top tier about the poor management of Iraq. One of the administration's own delegates to the Middle East, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the post. "I observed, at a minimum," he subsequently stated "clear negligence, inaction, and irresponsibility: potentially, deception, ineptitude, and graft."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not entirely responsible for the Iraq invasion. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for comparable steps. He had written a document detailing scenarios in which American interests might be compromised (including "access to crucial commodities, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "America should be prepared to operate alone when joint efforts cannot be orchestrated," specifically referencing military moves against Iraq.
Bush too had assumed the Oval Office vaguely intent on executing what his father had notably declined to do in 1991; topple Saddam. After he had been fired by the administration, the finance chief Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the first meeting of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his intention of reducing America's participation in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and proposed armed intervention against Iraq.
Bush carried a individual resentment against Saddam, convinced he had been involved in a conspiracy to kill his father, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore resented that one of the largest accommodations in Baghdad had a floor mural with a likeness of his parent's visage that everyone had to step on.
Questioning Techniques
Yet it was Cheney who was part of the most vociferous supporting attacking Iraq, consistently referencing intelligence reports that were either thin or entirely deceptive. He endorsed what the Bush administration euphemistically referred to as "advanced techniques", the employment of interrogation method and physical pressure.
Responding to a Senate analysis in 2014 that found that no valuable data had resulted from the harsh techniques, Cheney disregarded the report as "loaded with crap". He stated to Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to implement measures and put in place procedures to catch the individuals who killed 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."
External Perception
Cheney enjoyed monikers imposed on him by detractors such as the dark character and the dark figure, and by the concept that he was a shadow power manipulating Bush. In the author's 2013 book about the two, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is quoted as saying: "Is it me who is the malevolent mastermind in the shadows that remains unseen leave his hole? This represents a effective way to operate, in fact."
Business Interests
Debate over his commercial relationships accompanied him during his tenure as vice-president. While he had minimal expertise in corporate affairs but good contacts in security, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's biggest oil and gas corporations, in 1995 as leader and chief executive.
In 2000 he became Bush's election partner for the White House. Controversially, during the military campaign, Halliburton was granted US agreements worth multiple billions.
It greatly increased his wealth. His yearly earnings during his period at the corporation rose from his quarter-million dollars during his time as defence secretary to over four million. When he left in 2000 he had a package worth in excess of $20m|twenty
