The late US vice-president Dick Cheney, who passed away at age 84, was regarded as arguably the most powerful occupants of the vice-presidency in US history. Although numerous second-in-commands were confined to peripheral or ceremonial positions, Cheney held huge influence during the administration of George W Bush, so much so that he was frequently referred to as the "true president".
Bush resented this portrayal and claimed the dynamic was more complex. He pointed out that Cheney was respectful, consistently referring to him in public as the President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush questioned even portrayals of their relationship as a partnership because it implied that they were on equal footing. Despite these denials, Cheney considered the relaxed president pliable on a broad range of administrative determinations.
The Post-9/11 Era
Leading of a faction of conservative hawks that featured defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in reaction to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. During of the 9/11 strike, Bush had been taking part in a session at a school in Florida. Whereas Bush headed for a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, ordering the downing of any unidentified airplanes heading toward the government building.
Cheney claimed the attacks changed him, making him become focused on revenge. Together with other conservative figures, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a occupation of Afghanistan in an endeavor to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then pressed fiercely for the armed intervention of Iraq, although there was little proof of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Controversial Policies
He voiced no apologies about the invasion, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis died, and not about the waterboarding of individuals apprehended after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was founded on faulty information repeated by Cheney, was the correct path to take. "It proved to be the correct action to do then. I was convinced at the time and I maintain that stance presently."
But even at the time, there were dissenting voices at a senior level about the botched execution of Iraq. One of the government's own representatives to the Middle East, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the role. "I witnessed, at the very least," he subsequently stated "obvious failure, carelessness, and unaccountability: at worst, falsehoods, ineptitude, and corruption."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not solely to blame for the Iraq invasion. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for comparable steps. He had written a document detailing circumstances in which American interests might be threatened (featuring "availability of essential resources, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "America should be postured to operate alone when collective action cannot be arranged," explicitly referencing military moves against Iraq.
Bush too had entered the Oval Office somewhat determined on implementing what his parent had notably declined to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. Following he had been fired by the president, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had announced his objective of diminishing America's engagement in the Middle East dispute and proposed armed intervention against Iraq.
Bush bore a private grievance against Saddam, convinced he had been behind a scheme to kill his father, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore disliked that one of the largest hotels in Baghdad had a ground design with a image of his predecessor's countenance that all visitors had to step on.
Interrogation Methods
Yet it was Cheney who was part of the most outspoken supporting striking Iraq, frequently referencing information documents that were whether weak or entirely inaccurate. He endorsed what the Bush administration politely called as "intensive questioning", the use of interrogation method and torture.
Addressing a Senate analysis in 2014 that determined that no useful information had been obtained through the harsh techniques, Cheney disregarded the report as "loaded with crap". He stated to Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to implement measures and establish programmes to apprehend the perpetrators who took the lives of 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it never happened again. That is precisely what they did and they earn a lot of praise."
Public Image
Cheney enjoyed monikers assigned to him by detractors such as the Star Wars villain and the dark figure, and by the concept that he was a dark force manipulating Bush. In Peter Baker's 2013 book about the duo, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is cited as commenting: "Is it me who is the evil genius in the corner that remains unseen emerge from his domain? This represents a nice way to work, truthfully."
Business Interests
Debate over his business interests pursued him through his period as second-in-command. While he had minimal expertise in corporate affairs but strong connections in military, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's largest petroleum conglomerates, in 1995 as chair and top executive.
In 2000 he was selected as Bush's election partner for the executive branch. Debatably, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was awarded US contracts worth substantial sums.
It made him rich. His yearly compensation during his period at the company grew from his previous salary when he was Pentagon chief to millions. When he left in 2000 he had a compensation package worth in excess of $20m|twenty
