The deceased US vice-president Dick Cheney, who passed away at age 84, was seen as arguably the most influential holders of that position in US history. While numerous second-in-commands were confined to marginal or symbolic functions, Cheney wielded huge power during the presidency of George W Bush, to the point that he was commonly referred to as the "true president".
Bush objected to that description and said the relationship was more complex. He noted that Cheney was deferential, always addressing him in public as President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush challenged even portrayals of their association as a collaboration because it suggested that they were on equal footing. In spite of these denials, Cheney found the relaxed president pliable on a broad range of policy decisions.
The Aftermath of 9/11
At the head of a contingent of conservative hawks that encompassed Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in response 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 school in Florida. As Bush traveled to a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, directing the downing of any unresponsive airplanes heading toward the Capitol building.
Cheney said the strikes altered his perspective, making him become determined on retribution. Along with other conservative figures, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a invasion of Afghanistan in an attempt to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the military action of Iraq, though there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein playing a role.
Controversial Policies
He expressed no regrets about the armed intervention, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis died, and not about the enhanced interrogation of individuals captured after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was predicated on inaccurate reports repeated by Cheney, was the right course of action. "It proved to be the right thing to do at that time. I had faith then and I hold that view now."
But even at the time, there were contrary opinions at a high level about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the White House's own delegates to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the post. "I witnessed, at the very least," he wrote later "clear negligence, inaction, and irresponsibility: in the worst case, deception, unfitness, and dishonesty."
Additional Factors
Cheney was not solely accountable for the Iraq military action. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for comparable steps. He had composed a memorandum detailing scenarios in which US concerns might be compromised (including "access to vital raw materials, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "the US should be postured to take unilateral action when collective action cannot be orchestrated," explicitly citing military moves against Iraq.
Bush additionally had arrived in the White House somewhat determined on executing what his predecessor had notably declined to do in 1991; remove Saddam. Following he had been sacked by the president, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill disclosed how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his plan of reducing America's participation in the regional tensions and suggested armed intervention against Iraq.
Bush carried a personal grudge against Saddam, believing he had been involved in a plot to murder his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He also objected to that one of the largest hotels in Baghdad had a ground design with a portrait of his predecessor's face that each person had to step on.
Interrogation Methods
But it was Cheney who was part of the most vehement behind attacking Iraq, repeatedly citing agency briefings that were either insubstantial or totally inaccurate. He supported what the Bush government politely called as "enhanced interrogation", the application of waterboarding and harsh treatment.
Addressing a Senate report in 2014 that determined that no actionable intelligence had come from the torture, Cheney rejected the report as "riddled with crap". He stated to Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to establish protocols and create programmes to capture the individuals who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it would not recur. That is precisely what they did and they earn a lot of credit."
Public Persona
Cheney reveled in nicknames imposed on him by detractors such as the dark character and the sinister presence, and by the idea that he was a sinister influence manipulating Bush. In the journalist's 2013 book about the duo, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is cited as commenting: "Is it me who is the sinister strategist in the background that operates invisibly come out of his hole? This represents a effective way to operate, in fact."
Commercial Ties
Debate over his commercial relationships accompanied him throughout his time as VP. While he had limited background in corporate affairs but established relationships in military, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's biggest energy conglomerates, in 1995 as chairman and CEO.
In 2000 he was selected as Bush's running mate for the executive branch. Debatably, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was granted US deals valued at multiple billions.
It made him rich. His yearly earnings during his period at the firm grew from his quarter-million dollars during his time as military head to $4.4m. When he resigned in 2000 he had a compensation package totaling more than $20m|twenty
