The late US vice-president Dick Cheney, who passed away at the age of 84, was seen as arguably the most influential holders of that position in American history. Although numerous VPs had to settle for minor or symbolic positions, Cheney wielded substantial power during the administration of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was frequently described as the "real president".
Bush resented this portrayal and claimed the connection was more complex. He pointed out that Cheney was deferential, invariably calling him in public settings as the President, while he called him as Dick. Bush disputed even characterisations of their partnership as a collaboration because it suggested that they were peers. In spite of such protestations, Cheney found the easygoing president accommodating on a wide array of administrative determinations.
The Aftermath of 9/11
At the head of a faction of conservative hawks that featured military head Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the military intervention of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been taking part in a gathering at a school in Florida. As Bush headed for a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, directing the shooting down of any non-communicating airplanes nearing the Capitol building.
Cheney stated the assaults altered his perspective, making him become determined on retribution. Together with other neo-cons, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a occupation of Afghanistan in an effort to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the invasion of Iraq, although there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Controversial Policies
He expressed no regrets about the armed intervention, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis died, nor about the harsh treatment of individuals captured after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was based on inaccurate intelligence circulated by Cheney, was the correct course of action. "It proved to be the right thing to do back then. I believed it back then and I hold that view today."
However during that period, there were opposing views at a top tier about the botched execution of Iraq. One of the White House's own special envoys to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the post. "I observed, at the very least," he later wrote "clear negligence, negligence, and unaccountability: at worst, falsehoods, incompetence, and graft."
Broader Context
Cheney was not entirely to blame for the Iraq campaign. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for such action. He had written a document outlining scenarios in which national priorities might be endangered (featuring "access to crucial commodities, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "the US should be postured to act independently when joint efforts prove impossible," explicitly citing military moves against Iraq.
Bush too had assumed the presidency generally inclined on executing what his predecessor had specifically avoided to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. After he had been sacked by the president, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill disclosed how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had announced his intention of lowering America's participation in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and proposed defense operations against Iraq.
Bush held a private grievance against Saddam, thinking he had been behind a scheme to assassinate his father, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He also disliked that one of the biggest accommodations in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a portrait of his parent's face that everyone had to tread upon.
Interrogation Methods
However it was Cheney who was among the most outspoken advocating attacking Iraq, consistently quoting information documents that were either insubstantial or entirely deceptive. He endorsed what the Bush administration indirectly described as "advanced techniques", the application of waterboarding and torture.
Addressing a Senate document in 2014 that found that no useful information had been obtained through the harsh techniques, Cheney disregarded the conclusions as "riddled with crap". He informed Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to take steps and create procedures to catch the bastards who took the lives of 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it was not repeated. That's exactly what they did and they deserve a lot of praise."
Public Persona
Cheney took pleasure in labels assigned to him by detractors such as the dark character and the dark figure, and by the concept that he was a dark force manipulating Bush. In Peter Baker's 2013 publication about the duo, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is cited as commenting: "Do I represent the malevolent mastermind in the background that operates invisibly emerge from his lair? It's a advantageous way to function, truthfully."
Business Interests
Controversy over his corporate affiliations pursued him through his period as vice-president. Although he had limited background in commerce but established relationships in security, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's biggest petroleum companies, in 1995 as chair and chief executive.
In 2000 he became Bush's running mate for the presidency. Controversially, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was awarded US contracts valued at billions.
It greatly increased his wealth. His yearly compensation during his period at the firm grew from his $258,394 during his time as defence secretary to over four million. When he departed in 2000 he had a severance arrangement totaling in excess of $20m|twenty
