The deceased US vice-president Dick Cheney, who died at age 84, was considered one of the most powerful holders of the vice-presidency in the nation's history. Whereas numerous second-in-commands were limited to peripheral or ceremonial functions, Cheney exercised huge influence during the presidency of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was commonly referred to as the "true president".
Bush resented such a characterisation and stated the dynamic was more nuanced. He noted that Cheney was respectful, invariably addressing him in official appearances as Mr President, while he called him as Dick. Bush challenged even characterisations of their association as a collaboration because it suggested that they were on equal footing. Regardless of these denials, Cheney considered the laidback president malleable on a whole raft of governmental choices.
A Period Following the Attacks
In charge of a faction of conservative hawks that encompassed military head Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the military intervention of Iraq in 2003 in reaction to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. At the time of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been taking part in a meeting at a elementary school in Florida. As Bush made his way to a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, commanding the destruction of any unidentified aircraft approaching the government building.
Cheney said the assaults altered his perspective, making him become determined on retribution. In conjunction with other conservative figures, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a takeover of Afghanistan in an endeavor to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the armed intervention of Iraq, though there was little proof of Saddam Hussein playing a role.
Controversial Actions
He expressed no regrets about the military campaign, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, or about the enhanced interrogation of suspects apprehended after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was predicated on misleading reports circulated by Cheney, was the correct course of action. "It was the proper decision to do at that time. I believed it at the time and I hold that view today."
Yet even then, there were opposing views at a senior level about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the administration's own delegates to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the position. "I observed, as a baseline," he wrote later "true dereliction, inaction, and recklessness: at worst, deception, incompetence, and dishonesty."
Additional Factors
Cheney was not completely responsible for the Iraq military action. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for such action. He had written a document detailing scenarios in which American interests might be threatened (encompassing "obtaining essential resources, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "America should be positioned to act independently when cooperative measures cannot be orchestrated," explicitly citing armed actions against Iraq.
Bush additionally had arrived in the presidency generally inclined on carrying out what his predecessor had notably declined to do in 1991; remove Saddam. Subsequent to he had been sacked by the White House, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill disclosed how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had announced his objective of diminishing America's engagement in the Middle East dispute and proposed armed intervention against Iraq.
Bush carried a personal grudge against Saddam, believing he had been behind a scheme to murder his parent, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He also resented that one of the biggest hotels in Baghdad had a floor mural with a portrait of his predecessor's visage that all visitors had to walk over.
Investigation Approaches
But it was Cheney who was part of the most vociferous behind invading Iraq, frequently citing intelligence reports that were whether insubstantial or totally deceptive. He supported what the Bush government euphemistically referred to as "advanced techniques", the use of interrogation method and physical pressure.
Answering a Senate analysis in 2014 that concluded that no useful information had resulted from the torture, Cheney disregarded the conclusions as "loaded with crap". He told Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to establish protocols and establish programmes to apprehend the bastards who took the lives of 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it would not recur. That was specifically what they did and they deserve a lot of credit."
Public Image
Cheney took pleasure in labels imposed on him by detractors such as Darth Vader and The Prince of Darkness, and by the concept that he was a shadow power manipulating Bush. In the journalist's 2013 book about the duo, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is reported as stating: "Am I the malevolent mastermind in the background that nobody ever sees leave his domain? It's a nice way to function, truthfully."
Commercial Ties
Controversy over his business interests followed him throughout his time as second-in-command. Although he had little experience in business but strong connections in security, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's largest petroleum companies, in 1995 as leader and CEO.
In 2000 he was selected as Bush's election partner for the executive branch. Debatably, during the military campaign, Halliburton was given US agreements valued at substantial sums.
It greatly increased his wealth. His annual income during his tenure at the firm increased from his $258,394 while Pentagon chief to $4.4m. When he left in 2000 he had a package valued at in excess of $20m|twenty
