The late US vice-president Dick Cheney, who died at the age of 84, was seen as among the most significant occupants of that office in American history. Whereas numerous second-in-commands were confined to minor or symbolic roles, Cheney exercised substantial influence during the administration of George W Bush, so much so that he was commonly referred to as the "real president".
Bush disliked this portrayal and stated the dynamic was more complicated. He observed that Cheney was deferential, consistently calling him in official appearances as the President, while he called him as Dick. Bush challenged even characterisations of their relationship as a partnership because it suggested that they were peers. In spite of these denials, Cheney found the relaxed president pliable on a whole raft of governmental choices.
The Period Following the Attacks
In charge of a faction of neo-conservatives that encompassed Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the September 11th attacks on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been attending a meeting at a school in Florida. As Bush made his way to a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, ordering the downing of any non-communicating planes nearing the government building.
Cheney stated the assaults altered his perspective, making him become intent on retribution. Together with other neo-cons, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a takeover of Afghanistan in an endeavor to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the invasion of Iraq, though there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Disputed Policies
He showed no remorse about the invasion, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis perished, and not about the enhanced interrogation of detainees apprehended after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was predicated on faulty intelligence repeated by Cheney, was the correct path to take. "It proved to be the proper decision to do at that time. I believed it back then and I believe it now."
Yet during that period, there were dissenting voices at a senior level about the botched execution of Iraq. One of the White House's own delegates to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the role. "I witnessed, at the very least," he subsequently stated "obvious failure, negligence, and unaccountability: potentially, falsehoods, unfitness, and corruption."
Broader Context
Cheney was not completely responsible for the Iraq campaign. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for similar measures. He had written a document setting out circumstances in which national priorities might be threatened (encompassing "obtaining vital raw materials, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "America should be prepared to take unilateral action when collective action prove impossible," explicitly referencing defense operations against Iraq.
Bush additionally had arrived in the Oval Office somewhat determined on carrying out what his predecessor had specifically avoided to do in 1991; remove Saddam. Following he had been dismissed by the administration, the finance chief Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had announced his objective of lowering America's involvement in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and suggested military action against Iraq.
Bush carried a individual resentment against Saddam, thinking he had been responsible for a scheme to kill his father, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He also disliked that one of the most prominent accommodations in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a portrait of his parent's countenance that all visitors had to tread upon.
Interrogation Methods
But it was Cheney who was one of the most outspoken supporting attacking Iraq, consistently referencing information documents that were both weak or entirely misleading. He supported what the Bush White House indirectly described as "enhanced interrogation", the employment of waterboarding and harsh treatment.
Responding to a Senate analysis in 2014 that found that no actionable intelligence had resulted from the torture, Cheney rejected the conclusions as "full of crap". He told Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to establish protocols and establish initiatives to catch the perpetrators who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it never happened again. That is precisely what they did and they earn a lot of praise."
Public Image
Cheney reveled in monikers imposed on him by critics such as Darth Vader and The Prince of Darkness, and by the notion that he was a dark force controlling Bush. In Peter Baker's 2013 publication about the two, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is cited as commenting: "Do I represent the sinister strategist in the corner that operates invisibly emerge from his hole? This represents a effective way to operate, in fact."
Business Interests
Controversy over his commercial relationships pursued him throughout his time as vice-president. Even though he had minimal expertise in commerce but established relationships in military, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's biggest energy companies, in 1995 as chairman and chief executive.
In 2000 he became Bush's running mate for the presidency. Controversially, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was granted US deals totaling multiple billions.
It greatly increased his wealth. His annual income during his period at the company increased from his $258,394 during his time as defence secretary to millions. When he left in 2000 he had a severance arrangement totaling more than $20m|twenty
