The deceased US vice-president Dick Cheney, who died at age 84, was seen as one of the most powerful occupants of that office in American history. Whereas countless second-in-commands were limited to minor or symbolic positions, Cheney wielded huge sway during the presidency of George W Bush, to the point that he was often referred to as the "real president".
Bush disliked such a characterisation and said the dynamic was more complicated. He observed that Cheney was deferential, always addressing him in public as President, while he called him as Dick. Bush questioned even portrayals of their association as a collaboration because it implied that they were equals. Despite these denials, Cheney found the laidback president pliable on a wide array of governmental choices.
The Post-9/11 Era
In charge of a contingent of conservative hawks that featured defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. During of the 9/11 assault, Bush had been participating in a gathering at a school in Florida. While Bush made his way to a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, commanding the shooting down of any non-communicating aircraft approaching the government building.
Cheney said the strikes transformed him, causing him to be focused on revenge. Together with other neo-cons, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a invasion of Afghanistan in an attempt to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the invasion of Iraq, though there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein playing a role.
Debated Policies
He showed no remorse about the invasion, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis perished, and not about the enhanced interrogation of detainees apprehended after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was based on inaccurate intelligence repeated by Cheney, was the correct path to take. "It represented the correct action to do at that time. I was convinced at the time and I maintain that stance now."
But during that period, there were contrary opinions at a high level about the botched execution of Iraq. One of the White House's own representatives to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the role. "I witnessed, at a minimum," he later wrote "obvious failure, carelessness, and irresponsibility: at worst, falsehoods, incompetence, and dishonesty."
Additional Factors
Cheney was not entirely accountable for the Iraq campaign. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for comparable steps. He had composed a memorandum setting out circumstances in which national priorities might be threatened (featuring "availability of crucial commodities, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "the United States should be postured to operate alone when cooperative measures cannot be orchestrated," explicitly citing armed actions against Iraq.
Bush also had arrived in the presidency somewhat determined on carrying out what his parent had notably declined to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. Following he had been sacked by the White House, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his intention of reducing America's participation in the regional tensions and proposed armed intervention against Iraq.
Bush carried a individual resentment against Saddam, believing he had been involved in a scheme to assassinate his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He also disliked that one of the most prominent accommodations in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a image of his predecessor's visage that each person had to step on.
Interrogation Methods
However it was Cheney who was among the most vehement behind invading Iraq, consistently citing intelligence reports that were both thin or completely inaccurate. He endorsed what the Bush government politely called as "intensive questioning", the application of interrogation method and harsh treatment.
Addressing a Senate report in 2014 that concluded that no useful information had come from the torture, Cheney rejected the report as "full of crap". He told Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to take steps and create initiatives to capture the perpetrators who took the lives of 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it was not repeated. That was specifically what they did and they earn a lot of credit."
External Perception
Cheney took pleasure in nicknames assigned to him by critics such as the Star Wars villain and the dark figure, and by the notion that he was a sinister influence controlling Bush. In the author's 2013 book about the duo, 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 background that operates invisibly emerge from his hole? That is a effective way to work, actually."
Commercial Ties
Debate over his commercial relationships followed him throughout his time as VP. While he had limited background in business but established relationships in defence, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial energy companies, in 1995 as leader and top executive.
In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's running mate for the White House. Debatably, during the military campaign, Halliburton was given US deals totaling billions.
It significantly boosted his finances. His yearly compensation during his period at the corporation rose from his quarter-million dollars while military head to $4.4m. When he left in 2000 he had a package valued at more than $20m|twenty
