The deceased US vice-president Dick Cheney, who died at age 84, was considered one of the most powerful incumbents of the vice-presidency in US history. While many second-in-commands were limited to marginal or ceremonial roles, Cheney held enormous power during the presidency of George W Bush, to the point that he was frequently referred to as the "true president".
Bush objected to this portrayal and claimed the relationship was more complex. He observed that Cheney was courteous, invariably referring to him in public settings as the President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush disputed even characterisations of their partnership as a partnership because it indicated that they were peers. In spite of such protestations, Cheney found the relaxed president malleable on a wide array of policy decisions.
The Aftermath of 9/11
In charge of a group of conservative hawks that encompassed Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the invasion of Iraq in 2003 in reaction to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. At the time of the 9/11 assault, Bush had been taking part in a session at a school in Florida. Whereas Bush made his way to a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, commanding the downing of any unidentified airplanes heading toward the Capitol building.
Cheney said the assaults transformed him, making him become focused on retaliation. Along with other neo-conservatives, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a invasion of Afghanistan in an effort to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the military action of Iraq, although there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein playing a role.
Controversial Decisions
He showed no remorse about the armed intervention, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, or about the harsh treatment of detainees captured after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was predicated on misleading reports circulated by Cheney, was the correct decision. "It represented the proper decision to do at that time. I was convinced at the time and I hold that view today."
Yet even then, there were opposing views at a top tier about the botched execution of Iraq. One of the administration's own delegates to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the position. "I saw, at a minimum," he wrote later "true dereliction, inaction, and irresponsibility: potentially, falsehoods, unfitness, and graft."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not solely responsible for the Iraq campaign. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for such action. He had drafted a memo setting out scenarios in which national priorities might be endangered (including "availability of vital raw materials, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "the United States should be postured to operate alone when joint efforts cannot be arranged," explicitly citing armed actions against Iraq.
Bush additionally had assumed the White House generally inclined on executing what his parent had specifically avoided to do in 1991; remove Saddam. Following he had been sacked by the administration, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill disclosed how, at the first meeting of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his plan of reducing America's engagement in the Middle East dispute and mooted defense operations against Iraq.
Bush bore a personal grudge against Saddam, thinking he had been responsible for a conspiracy to assassinate his father, President George HW Bush, on a visit 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 all visitors had to walk over.
Interrogation Methods
However it was Cheney who was one of the most outspoken supporting invading Iraq, repeatedly citing intelligence reports that were either thin or totally deceptive. He backed what the Bush administration euphemistically referred to as "enhanced interrogation", the employment of waterboarding and torture.
Addressing a Senate report in 2014 that determined that no valuable data had resulted from the interrogation methods, Cheney dismissed the conclusions as "full of crap". He informed Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to establish protocols and establish procedures to capture the individuals who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it would not recur. That was specifically what they did and they merit a lot of credit."
Public Image
Cheney reveled in nicknames imposed on him by critics such as the Star Wars villain and the sinister presence, and by the concept that he was a sinister influence directing Bush. In the author's 2013 publication about the duo, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is quoted as saying: "Do I represent the sinister strategist in the background that nobody ever sees come out of his domain? This represents a effective way to operate, in fact."
Commercial Ties
Debate over his corporate affiliations accompanied him during his tenure as second-in-command. Even though he had limited background in commerce but good contacts in security, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's largest energy conglomerates, in 1995 as chairman and top executive.
In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's VP candidate for the presidency. Debatably, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was given US contracts totaling multiple billions.
It greatly increased his wealth. His yearly earnings during his period at the firm increased from his $258,394 while defence secretary to millions. When he departed in 2000 he had a compensation package valued at in excess of $20m|twenty
