The former US vice-president Dick Cheney, who died at age 84, was regarded as among the most significant incumbents of that office in the nation's history. Whereas numerous second-in-commands were limited to marginal or symbolic roles, Cheney wielded substantial power during the presidency of George W Bush, to the point that he was frequently called as the "true president".
Bush objected to such a characterisation and said the connection was more complicated. He pointed out that Cheney was courteous, consistently addressing him in public settings as the President, while he called him as Dick. Bush disputed even characterisations of their relationship as a partnership because it suggested that they were equals. Despite such protestations, Cheney considered the easygoing president malleable on a broad range of administrative determinations.
A Period Following the Attacks
At the head of a contingent of conservative hawks that featured defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the military intervention of Iraq in 2003 in reaction to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 strike, Bush had been participating in a meeting at a school in Florida. Whereas Bush traveled to a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, commanding the destruction of any unresponsive planes heading toward the government building.
Cheney stated the strikes changed him, making him become intent on retaliation. Along with other conservative figures, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a invasion of Afghanistan in an attempt to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then pressed fiercely for the military action of Iraq, though there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Disputed Decisions
He voiced no apologies about the invasion, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis died, nor about the harsh treatment of detainees rounded up after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was predicated on faulty intelligence circulated by Cheney, was the proper course of action. "It was the proper decision to do back then. I was convinced then and I maintain that stance now."
Yet even then, there were dissenting voices at a senior level 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, as a baseline," he wrote later "true dereliction, negligence, and recklessness: in the worst case, falsehoods, ineptitude, and corruption."
Additional Factors
Cheney was not completely responsible for the Iraq campaign. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for such action. He had drafted a memo detailing scenarios in which national priorities might be compromised (including "availability of essential resources, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "the US should be prepared to act independently when joint efforts cannot be orchestrated," particularly citing defense operations against Iraq.
Bush also had assumed the presidency somewhat determined on carrying out what his parent had notably declined to do in 1991; remove Saddam. Subsequent to he had been fired by the White House, the finance chief Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had announced his intention of reducing America's participation in the Middle East dispute and mooted armed intervention against Iraq.
Bush held a personal grudge against Saddam, convinced he had been responsible for a scheme to kill his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally disliked that one of the biggest accommodations in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a portrait of his parent's countenance that all visitors had to walk over.
Interrogation Methods
But it was Cheney who was among the most vehement supporting striking Iraq, repeatedly referencing agency briefings that were both insubstantial or totally inaccurate. He endorsed what the Bush White House politely called as "advanced techniques", the employment of simulated drowning and harsh treatment.
Addressing a Senate document in 2014 that found that no valuable data had been obtained through the harsh techniques, Cheney disregarded the report as "loaded with crap". He told Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to implement measures and establish procedures to capture the bastards who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it was not repeated. That's exactly what they did and they earn a lot of recognition."
Public Image
Cheney enjoyed nicknames assigned to him by opponents such as the dark character and the sinister presence, and by the notion that he was a sinister influence directing Bush. In the author's 2013 publication about the two, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is cited as commenting: "Am I the evil genius in the background that operates invisibly come out of his lair? That is a advantageous way to work, in fact."
Commercial Ties
Dispute over his corporate affiliations followed him during his tenure as VP. While he had little experience in corporate affairs but strong connections in security, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's largest energy companies, in 1995 as chair and chief executive.
In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's VP candidate for the executive branch. Debatably, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was awarded US agreements worth billions.
It significantly boosted his finances. His yearly compensation during his time at the firm grew from his quarter-million dollars during his time as Pentagon chief to millions. When he left in 2000 he had a compensation package valued at in excess of $20m|twenty
