The former US vice-president Dick Cheney, who died at age 84, was considered among the most significant incumbents of that office in American history. While many VPs had to settle for minor or symbolic positions, Cheney held huge influence during the presidency of George W Bush, to the point that he was commonly called as the "real president".
Bush disliked that description and claimed the connection was more complex. He noted that Cheney was respectful, always referring to him in official appearances as Mr President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush questioned even characterisations of their association as a team because it indicated that they were equals. Regardless of such protestations, Cheney considered the laidback president malleable on a broad range of policy decisions.
A Post-9/11 Era
Leading of a group of conservative hawks that included military head Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence 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. During of the 9/11 strike, Bush had been attending a session at a school in Florida. As Bush headed for a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, directing the downing of any unresponsive aircraft approaching the government building.
Cheney said the attacks altered his perspective, leading him to become focused on retribution. In conjunction with other conservative figures, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a takeover of Afghanistan in an effort to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the invasion of Iraq, even though there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein having involvement.
Debated Decisions
He showed no remorse about the invasion, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis perished, nor about the harsh treatment of individuals apprehended after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was based on inaccurate intelligence echoed by Cheney, was the right path to take. "It represented the right thing to do back then. I was convinced back then and I hold that view presently."
But even at the time, there were contrary opinions at a senior level about the poor management of Iraq. One of the administration's own delegates to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the role. "I saw, at a minimum," he wrote later "true dereliction, negligence, and unaccountability: in the worst case, falsehoods, incompetence, and corruption."
Broader Context
Cheney was not completely responsible for the Iraq campaign. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for similar measures. He had composed a memo outlining situations in which US concerns might be endangered (featuring "availability of essential resources, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "the US should be positioned to act independently when collective action cannot be orchestrated," particularly mentioning armed actions against Iraq.
Bush additionally had entered the presidency somewhat determined on executing what his predecessor had specifically avoided to do in 1991; remove Saddam. After he had been fired by the president, the finance chief Paul O'Neill disclosed how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had announced his plan of lowering America's participation in the Middle East dispute and proposed defense operations against Iraq.
Bush carried a personal grudge against Saddam, thinking he had been behind a scheme to assassinate his father, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore disliked that one of the largest accommodations in Baghdad had a floor mural with a likeness of his predecessor's face that each person had to step on.
Interrogation Methods
Yet it was Cheney who was part of the most vehement behind striking Iraq, repeatedly quoting agency briefings that were whether insubstantial or completely deceptive. He endorsed what the Bush government euphemistically referred to as "advanced techniques", the application of interrogation method and physical pressure.
Addressing a Senate document in 2014 that determined that no actionable intelligence had been obtained through the interrogation methods, Cheney rejected the report as "riddled with crap". He stated to Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to take steps and put in place programmes to apprehend the perpetrators who took the lives of 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it never happened again. That was specifically what they did and they earn a lot of credit."
External Perception
Cheney took pleasure in labels assigned to him by critics such as the dark character and the dark figure, and by the concept that he was a sinister influence manipulating 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 sinister strategist in the background that operates invisibly emerge from his lair? It's a effective way to operate, in fact."
Business Interests
Debate over his business interests accompanied him during his tenure as second-in-command. Although he had little experience in commerce but good contacts in military, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial oil and gas companies, in 1995 as chairman and CEO.
In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's running mate for the presidency. Debatably, during the military campaign, Halliburton was awarded US contracts totaling billions.
It greatly increased his wealth. His annual income during his tenure at the company increased from his quarter-million dollars while Pentagon chief to millions. When he resigned in 2000 he had a package valued at in excess of $20m|twenty
