The deceased US vice-president Dick Cheney, who died at age 84, was considered one of the most influential holders of that office in American history. Whereas countless VPs were confined to peripheral or ceremonial roles, Cheney held enormous sway during the administration of George W Bush, to the point that he was frequently referred to as the "true president".
Bush resented such a characterisation and claimed the relationship was more complex. He noted that Cheney was respectful, invariably referring to him in public settings as Mr President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush questioned even descriptions of their association as a team because it implied that they were on equal footing. Regardless of these denials, Cheney considered the relaxed president pliable on a broad range of administrative determinations.
The Aftermath of 9/11
At the head of a contingent of neo-conservatives that featured military head Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in response to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. During of the 9/11 strike, Bush had been participating in a session at a school in Florida. While Bush headed for a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, directing the downing of any unresponsive aircraft approaching the government building.
Cheney stated the assaults transformed him, leading him to become intent on retribution. In conjunction with other neo-cons, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a occupation of Afghanistan in an attempt to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the armed intervention of Iraq, though there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein playing a role.
Disputed Actions
He voiced no apologies about the invasion, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis perished, and not about the harsh treatment of individuals captured after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was founded on inaccurate reports echoed by Cheney, was the right path to take. "It proved to be the proper decision to do at that time. I was convinced at the time and I maintain that stance presently."
Yet during that period, there were contrary opinions at a senior level about the poor management of Iraq. One of the White House's own delegates to the Middle East, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the position. "I witnessed, at a minimum," he subsequently stated "true dereliction, carelessness, and unaccountability: at worst, deception, incompetence, and corruption."
Additional Factors
Cheney was not entirely responsible for the Iraq campaign. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for such action. He had composed a document detailing circumstances in which national priorities might be threatened (encompassing "obtaining essential resources, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "the US should be positioned to operate alone when joint efforts cannot be orchestrated," particularly citing defense operations against Iraq.
Bush too had entered the presidency generally inclined on carrying out what his parent had famously refused to do in 1991; topple Saddam. After he had been fired by the president, the finance chief Paul O'Neill disclosed how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had announced his objective of diminishing America's involvement in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and proposed military action against Iraq.
Bush bore a personal grudge against Saddam, believing he had been involved in a plot to murder his father, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore disliked that one of the most prominent accommodations in Baghdad had a ground design with a image of his father's countenance that each person had to tread upon.
Interrogation Methods
Yet it was Cheney who was part of the most outspoken advocating attacking Iraq, consistently quoting information documents that were both weak or entirely deceptive. He supported what the Bush government euphemistically referred to as "enhanced interrogation", the use of waterboarding and physical pressure.
Answering a Senate report in 2014 that concluded that no valuable data had resulted from the interrogation methods, Cheney disregarded the report as "loaded with crap". He informed Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to implement measures and put in place initiatives to capture the perpetrators who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it never happened again. That's exactly what they did and they earn a lot of credit."
Public Persona
Cheney reveled in nicknames imposed on him by opponents such as the Star Wars villain and The Prince of Darkness, and by the idea that he was a shadow power directing Bush. In the journalist's 2013 book about the duo, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is reported as stating: "Do I represent the malevolent mastermind in the shadows that nobody ever sees emerge from his hole? That is a advantageous way to work, in fact."
Corporate Connections
Dispute over his commercial relationships followed him through his period as second-in-command. While he had minimal expertise in business but good contacts in defence, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial energy conglomerates, in 1995 as chairman and CEO.
In 2000 he was selected as Bush's VP candidate for the executive branch. Controversially, during the military campaign, Halliburton was given US contracts valued at substantial sums.
It greatly increased his wealth. His yearly earnings during his time at the corporation rose from his previous salary when he was Pentagon chief to $4.4m. When he departed in 2000 he had a package totaling more than $20m|twenty
