The former US vice-president Dick Cheney, who passed away at age 84, was considered one of the most influential holders of that office in the nation's history. While countless second-in-commands were confined to minor or symbolic positions, Cheney held enormous sway during the administration of George W Bush, so much so that he was frequently referred to as the "actual president".
Bush disliked this portrayal and said the dynamic was more complicated. He noted that Cheney was deferential, invariably calling him in public settings as President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush disputed even characterisations of their association as a partnership because it suggested that they were peers. Regardless of these denials, Cheney found the easygoing president malleable on a broad range of policy decisions.
The Aftermath of 9/11
At the head of a contingent of neo-conservatives that featured defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated 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 participating in a gathering at a educational institution in Florida. Whereas Bush made his way to a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney took command, commanding the destruction of any non-communicating planes nearing the US Capitol.
Cheney said the strikes altered his perspective, making him become focused on revenge. In conjunction with other neo-cons, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a invasion of Afghanistan in an effort to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the military action of Iraq, even though there was little proof of Saddam Hussein playing a role.
Controversial Actions
He expressed no regrets about the armed intervention, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis perished, and not about the enhanced interrogation of detainees apprehended after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was founded on faulty information repeated by Cheney, was the right course of action. "It proved to be the correct action to do at that time. I had faith at the time and I maintain that stance presently."
However during that period, there were dissenting voices at a top tier about the botched execution of Iraq. One of the government's own special envoys to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the role. "I saw, at the very least," he wrote later "obvious failure, negligence, and recklessness: in the worst case, deception, unfitness, and dishonesty."
Additional Factors
Cheney was not entirely responsible for the Iraq military action. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for similar measures. He had drafted a document outlining scenarios in which US concerns might be threatened (featuring "access to crucial commodities, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "America should be prepared to act independently when cooperative measures cannot be arranged," particularly mentioning military moves against Iraq.
Bush additionally had assumed the Oval Office generally inclined on carrying out what his father had specifically avoided to do in 1991; topple Saddam. Subsequent to he had been fired by the administration, the finance chief Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had announced his plan of reducing America's participation in the Middle East dispute and mooted armed intervention against Iraq.
Bush carried a personal grudge against Saddam, convinced he had been involved in a scheme to assassinate his parent, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore resented that one of the most prominent accommodations in Baghdad had a floor mural with a portrait of his predecessor's face that all visitors had to walk over.
Interrogation Methods
But it was Cheney who was among the most outspoken supporting striking Iraq, repeatedly citing intelligence reports that were both thin or completely deceptive. He backed what the Bush administration euphemistically referred to as "enhanced interrogation", the application of waterboarding and harsh treatment.
Addressing a Senate analysis in 2014 that concluded that no actionable intelligence had resulted from the harsh techniques, Cheney rejected the findings as "full of crap". He informed Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to implement measures and put in place initiatives to catch the bastards who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it was not repeated. That is precisely what they did and they earn a lot of credit."
External Perception
Cheney enjoyed monikers assigned to him by opponents such as the Star Wars villain and the sinister presence, and by the concept that he was a sinister influence controlling Bush. In Peter Baker's 2013 volume about the two, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is reported as stating: "Is it me who is the malevolent mastermind in the corner that remains unseen leave his lair? It's a nice way to work, in fact."
Commercial Ties
Dispute over his commercial relationships accompanied him through his period as VP. While he had limited background in commerce but good contacts in security, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's biggest energy corporations, in 1995 as leader and top executive.
In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's election partner for the executive branch. Controversially, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was awarded US agreements worth substantial sums.
It greatly increased his wealth. His yearly earnings during his time at the company grew from his $258,394 during his time as military head to millions. When he resigned in 2000 he had a package worth more than $20m|twenty
