The former US VP Dick Cheney, who died at the age of 84, was seen as arguably the most powerful incumbents of the vice-presidency in US history. Whereas many second-in-commands were limited to minor or ceremonial roles, Cheney exercised enormous influence during the administration of George W Bush, to the point that he was often described as the "real president".
Bush disliked this portrayal and said the connection was more nuanced. He noted that Cheney was courteous, always addressing him in public settings as the President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush challenged even portrayals of their relationship as a collaboration because it suggested that they were equals. In spite of these objections, Cheney found the relaxed president malleable on a whole raft of policy decisions.
A Period Following the Attacks
In charge of a faction of neo-conservatives that featured military head Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted 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 strike, Bush had been participating in a gathering at a educational institution in Florida. As Bush traveled to a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney took command, commanding the destruction of any unidentified airplanes heading toward the Capitol building.
Cheney said the attacks transformed him, leading him to become determined on retaliation. Together with other neo-cons, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a invasion of Afghanistan in an endeavor to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then pressed fiercely for the invasion of Iraq, even though there was little proof of Saddam Hussein playing a role.
Disputed Actions
He expressed no regrets about the armed intervention, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis perished, nor about the waterboarding of suspects apprehended after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was founded on misleading intelligence circulated by Cheney, was the proper decision. "It represented the correct action to do at that time. I had faith back then and I hold that view now."
However during that period, there were contrary opinions at a top tier about the botched execution of Iraq. One of the White House's own representatives to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the post. "I observed, at the very least," he wrote later "clear negligence, negligence, and unaccountability: at worst, deception, incompetence, and graft."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not completely to blame for the Iraq campaign. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for similar measures. He had composed a document detailing circumstances in which national priorities might be compromised (including "availability of essential resources, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "America should be prepared to take unilateral action when cooperative measures cannot be orchestrated," particularly citing defense operations against Iraq.
Bush additionally had entered the White House vaguely intent on carrying out what his predecessor had notably declined to do in 1991; remove Saddam. After he had been dismissed by the administration, the finance chief Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the first meeting of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his objective of reducing America's participation in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and mooted armed intervention against Iraq.
Bush bore a private grievance against Saddam, convinced he had been behind a scheme to murder his parent, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally disliked that one of the most prominent establishments in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a likeness of his parent's countenance that all visitors had to tread upon.
Interrogation Methods
However it was Cheney who was one of the most vociferous behind invading Iraq, repeatedly quoting intelligence reports that were whether insubstantial or totally inaccurate. He backed what the Bush government indirectly described as "advanced techniques", the application of simulated drowning and physical pressure.
Answering a Senate analysis in 2014 that found that no useful information had resulted from the harsh techniques, Cheney disregarded the findings as "riddled with crap". He told Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to establish protocols and create procedures to capture the perpetrators who took the lives of 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it never happened again. That is precisely what they did and they earn a lot of praise."
Public Persona
Cheney took pleasure in labels given to him by detractors such as the dark character and the dark figure, and by the notion that he was a sinister influence manipulating Bush. In the author's 2013 book about the two, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is reported as stating: "Am I the malevolent mastermind in the shadows that nobody ever sees leave his lair? That is a effective way to operate, actually."
Business Interests
Dispute over his business interests pursued him during his tenure as vice-president. Although 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 largest petroleum companies, in 1995 as chairman and CEO.
In 2000 he became Bush's running mate for the executive branch. Contentiously, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was awarded US contracts worth billions.
It made him rich. His annual income during his period at the firm increased from his previous salary while military head to millions. When he departed in 2000 he had a compensation package totaling over $20m|twenty
