The deceased US vice-president Dick Cheney, who passed away at age 84, was regarded as one of the most powerful occupants of that office in US history. While numerous second-in-commands had to settle for peripheral or symbolic roles, Cheney wielded substantial influence during the administration of George W Bush, so much so that he was frequently called as the "real president".
Bush resented this portrayal and claimed the relationship was more nuanced. He observed that Cheney was deferential, invariably referring to him in official appearances as the President, while he called him as Dick. Bush disputed even descriptions of their association as a partnership because it suggested that they were equals. In spite of these objections, Cheney considered the easygoing president malleable on a broad range of governmental choices.
A Aftermath of 9/11
At the head of a faction of neo-cons that included military head Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the military intervention of Iraq in 2003 in reaction to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. At the time of the 9/11 assault, Bush had been participating in a gathering at a school in Florida. As Bush traveled to a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, directing the shooting down of any non-communicating airplanes nearing the Capitol building.
Cheney said the assaults changed him, causing him to be intent on retaliation. Along with other conservative figures, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a occupation of Afghanistan in an effort to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the invasion of Iraq, even though there was little proof of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Controversial Policies
He showed no remorse about the invasion, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis perished, or about the waterboarding of individuals apprehended after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was predicated on inaccurate reports echoed by Cheney, was the correct decision. "It was the correct action to do then. I believed it then and I hold that view presently."
Yet even at the time, there were opposing views at a high level about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the government's own delegates to the Middle East, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the role. "I saw, as a baseline," he subsequently stated "obvious failure, carelessness, and irresponsibility: in the worst case, deception, unfitness, and dishonesty."
Broader Context
Cheney was not solely responsible for the Iraq campaign. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for such action. He had written a document outlining scenarios in which US concerns might be threatened (including "availability of crucial commodities, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "America should be postured to operate alone when cooperative measures cannot be orchestrated," explicitly referencing defense operations against Iraq.
Bush additionally had arrived in the Oval Office generally inclined on carrying out what his father had specifically avoided to do in 1991; topple Saddam. Following he had been fired by the White House, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his plan of diminishing America's participation in the regional tensions and mooted defense operations against Iraq.
Bush bore a private grievance against Saddam, thinking he had been involved in a scheme to kill his parent, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore disliked that one of the biggest hotels in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a likeness of his parent's countenance that each person had to step on.
Interrogation Methods
But it was Cheney who was part of the most vehement advocating striking Iraq, repeatedly referencing information documents that were both insubstantial or totally misleading. He endorsed what the Bush government politely called as "enhanced interrogation", the use of simulated drowning and physical pressure.
Responding to a Senate document in 2014 that determined that no valuable data had been obtained through the harsh techniques, Cheney rejected the findings as "loaded with crap". He stated to Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to implement measures and put in place programmes to capture the bastards who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it was not repeated. That's exactly what they did and they merit a lot of praise."
Public Image
Cheney reveled in nicknames assigned to him by opponents such as the dark character and The Prince of Darkness, and by the concept that he was a dark force controlling Bush. In Peter Baker's 2013 publication about the duo, 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 nobody ever sees come out of his lair? That is a effective way to work, truthfully."
Commercial Ties
Dispute over his commercial relationships followed him during his tenure as VP. Although he had minimal expertise in corporate affairs but good contacts in defence, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's biggest petroleum companies, in 1995 as leader and top executive.
In 2000 he became Bush's election partner for the executive branch. Controversially, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was awarded US contracts worth multiple billions.
It significantly boosted his finances. His annual income during his time at the corporation increased from his quarter-million dollars when he was military head to over four million. When he departed in 2000 he had a severance arrangement valued at over $20m|twenty
