The deceased US vice-president Dick Cheney, who passed away at the age of 84, was seen as arguably the most influential incumbents of that position in US history. Although countless second-in-commands had to settle for marginal or ceremonial positions, Cheney wielded enormous power during the administration of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was commonly called as the "actual president".
Bush disliked that description and stated the dynamic was more nuanced. He noted that Cheney was courteous, invariably addressing him in public settings as President, while he called him as Dick. Bush questioned even characterisations of their association as a team because it implied that they were on equal footing. Despite these objections, Cheney viewed the easygoing president pliable on a broad range of administrative determinations.
The Post-9/11 Era
Leading of a contingent of neo-cons that included Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense 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. When of the 9/11 strike, Bush had been taking part in a gathering at a school in Florida. Whereas Bush traveled to a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, directing the destruction of any non-communicating aircraft nearing the government building.
Cheney claimed the strikes transformed him, leading him to become determined on retribution. Along with other neo-conservatives, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a occupation of Afghanistan in an attempt to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the invasion of Iraq, although there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein having involvement.
Debated Actions
He voiced no apologies about the military campaign, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, or about the enhanced interrogation of detainees captured after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was founded on inaccurate information echoed by Cheney, was the right path to take. "It proved to be the proper decision to do back then. I believed it back then and I believe it today."
However even at the time, there were dissenting voices at a senior level about the poor management of Iraq. One of the White House's own delegates to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the post. "I witnessed, as a baseline," he later wrote "clear negligence, carelessness, and irresponsibility: at worst, deception, unfitness, and corruption."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not solely responsible for the Iraq military action. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for such action. He had written a document outlining circumstances in which national priorities might be compromised (encompassing "availability of essential resources, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "America should be prepared to take unilateral action when collective action cannot be orchestrated," explicitly citing armed actions against Iraq.
Bush additionally had assumed the Oval Office vaguely intent on carrying out what his parent had specifically avoided to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. Following he had been fired 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 stated his objective of reducing America's involvement in the Middle East dispute and mooted military action against Iraq.
Bush carried a personal grudge against Saddam, convinced he had been involved in a conspiracy to murder his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally resented that one of the biggest hotels in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a likeness of his parent's face that everyone had to step on.
Interrogation Methods
Yet it was Cheney who was one of the most vehement advocating striking Iraq, frequently citing agency briefings that were either insubstantial or completely deceptive. He supported what the Bush White House indirectly described as "advanced techniques", the employment of waterboarding and torture.
Responding to a Senate document in 2014 that determined that no useful information had resulted from the harsh techniques, Cheney rejected the findings as "loaded with crap". He stated to Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to take steps and put in place procedures to catch the bastards who took the lives of 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it was not repeated. That is precisely what they did and they merit a lot of recognition."
External Perception
Cheney reveled in nicknames imposed on him by critics such as the dark character and the dark figure, and by the concept that he was a dark force directing Bush. In the author's 2013 book about the duo, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is cited as commenting: "Do I represent the sinister strategist in the background that operates invisibly emerge from his lair? This represents a effective way to operate, actually."
Business Interests
Dispute over his business interests followed him through his period as VP. While he had little experience in corporate affairs but established relationships in military, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's largest energy corporations, in 1995 as chair and chief executive.
In 2000 he became Bush's VP candidate for the White House. Controversially, during the military campaign, Halliburton was given US deals valued at substantial sums.
It significantly boosted his finances. His annual income during his time at the firm grew from his quarter-million dollars when he was defence secretary to millions. When he departed in 2000 he had a package valued at over $20m|twenty
