The former US vice-president Dick Cheney, who passed away at age 84, was seen as one of the most powerful holders of the vice-presidency in the nation's history. While many second-in-commands were limited to peripheral or symbolic positions, Cheney exercised huge power during the administration of George W Bush, so much so that he was commonly called as the "real president".
Bush resented such a characterisation and claimed the connection was more complex. He observed that Cheney was respectful, consistently referring to him in public settings as the President, while he called him as Dick. Bush disputed even descriptions of their relationship as a partnership because it suggested that they were peers. In spite of these denials, Cheney viewed the laidback president pliable on a wide array of policy decisions.
A Period Following the Attacks
In charge of a faction of neo-conservatives that encompassed Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the September 11th attacks on New York and Washington. At the time of the 9/11 strike, Bush had been attending a session at a educational institution in Florida. Whereas Bush headed for a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, directing the destruction of any unresponsive planes heading toward the government building.
Cheney said the strikes altered his perspective, leading him to become determined on retribution. In conjunction with other neo-conservatives, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a occupation of Afghanistan in an endeavor to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the armed intervention of Iraq, even though there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein playing a role.
Disputed Policies
He expressed no regrets about the military campaign, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis perished, nor about the harsh treatment of detainees apprehended after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was predicated 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 back then and I maintain that stance now."
But even at the time, there were opposing views at a top tier about the poor management of Iraq. One of the administration's own delegates to the Middle East, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the post. "I observed, at a minimum," he wrote later "clear negligence, inaction, and unaccountability: in the worst case, lying, unfitness, and dishonesty."
Additional Factors
Cheney was not solely responsible for the Iraq invasion. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for similar measures. He had written a memorandum outlining scenarios in which national priorities might be compromised (including "obtaining crucial commodities, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "the United States should be prepared to operate alone when collective action cannot be orchestrated," particularly citing armed actions against Iraq.
Bush too had entered the Oval Office somewhat determined on carrying out what his parent had specifically avoided to do in 1991; topple Saddam. After he had been dismissed by the administration, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill disclosed how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his intention of diminishing America's involvement in the regional tensions and suggested armed intervention against Iraq.
Bush bore a personal grudge against Saddam, believing he had been involved in a scheme to assassinate his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He also disliked that one of the most prominent hotels in Baghdad had a ground design with a portrait of his father's face that all visitors had to tread upon.
Interrogation Methods
Yet it was Cheney who was among the most vociferous behind attacking Iraq, consistently citing information documents that were whether thin or totally deceptive. He backed what the Bush administration euphemistically referred to as "intensive questioning", the application of simulated drowning and torture.
Answering a Senate document in 2014 that determined that no valuable data had come from the harsh techniques, Cheney disregarded the findings as "full of crap". He stated to Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to establish protocols and establish initiatives to capture the perpetrators who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it would not recur. That's exactly what they did and they deserve a lot of praise."
External Perception
Cheney reveled in monikers imposed on him by detractors such as the dark character and the sinister presence, and by the concept that he was a sinister influence manipulating Bush. In the author's 2013 volume about the two, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is quoted as saying: "Do I represent the sinister strategist in the corner that nobody ever sees emerge from his hole? It's a advantageous way to operate, truthfully."
Business Interests
Dispute over his commercial relationships followed him during his tenure as VP. Although he had limited background in business but established relationships in defence, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's largest petroleum corporations, in 1995 as chairman and CEO.
In 2000 he became Bush's VP candidate for the executive branch. Contentiously, during the military campaign, Halliburton was awarded US agreements worth billions.
It greatly increased his wealth. His yearly earnings during his tenure at the corporation grew from his previous salary when he was military head to millions. When he left in 2000 he had a compensation package worth over $20m|twenty
