The former US vice-president Dick Cheney, who passed away at the age of 84, was considered one of the most influential incumbents of the vice-presidency in the nation's history. Whereas many vice-presidents were confined to peripheral or figurehead roles, Cheney wielded substantial power during the presidency of George W Bush, to the point that he was frequently described as the "true president".
Bush disliked this portrayal and claimed the relationship was more nuanced. He pointed out that Cheney was courteous, consistently referring to him in public settings as the President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush disputed even descriptions of their relationship as a collaboration because it suggested that they were peers. Despite such protestations, Cheney found the laidback president pliable on a broad range of policy decisions.
The Post-9/11 Era
At the head of a group of neo-conservatives that encompassed defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the military intervention of Iraq in 2003 in response to the September 11th attacks on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 assault, Bush had been participating in a session at a school in Florida. While Bush traveled to a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, directing the shooting down of any non-communicating airplanes heading toward the government building.
Cheney claimed the assaults altered his perspective, causing him to be intent on retaliation. In conjunction with other neo-conservatives, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a invasion of Afghanistan in an attempt to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the military action of Iraq, though there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein playing a role.
Disputed Policies
He showed no remorse about the military campaign, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis died, or about the waterboarding of suspects apprehended after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was predicated on faulty reports echoed by Cheney, was the proper course of action. "It represented the correct action to do back then. I was convinced back then and I maintain that stance presently."
But even at the time, there were contrary opinions at a high level about the poor management of Iraq. One of the administration's own delegates to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the position. "I witnessed, as a baseline," he later wrote "clear negligence, carelessness, and unaccountability: at worst, deception, ineptitude, and dishonesty."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not solely accountable for the Iraq invasion. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for such action. He had drafted a memo outlining scenarios in which US concerns might be endangered (featuring "obtaining crucial commodities, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "the US should be prepared to operate alone when cooperative measures cannot be orchestrated," explicitly referencing armed actions against Iraq.
Bush too had arrived in the presidency generally inclined on implementing what his parent had famously refused to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. Subsequent to he had been sacked by the administration, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had announced his intention of reducing America's engagement in the Middle East dispute and proposed armed intervention against Iraq.
Bush bore a personal grudge against Saddam, believing he had been responsible for a conspiracy to assassinate his father, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally resented that one of the biggest accommodations in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a likeness of his father's countenance that everyone had to step on.
Interrogation Methods
But it was Cheney who was one of the most vehement supporting attacking Iraq, frequently referencing intelligence reports that were whether weak or completely misleading. He endorsed what the Bush administration indirectly described as "enhanced interrogation", the use of simulated drowning and harsh treatment.
Addressing a Senate report in 2014 that determined that no useful information had resulted from the harsh techniques, Cheney disregarded the conclusions as "full of crap". He told Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to implement measures and establish initiatives to apprehend the bastards who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it would not recur. That was specifically what they did and they deserve a lot of praise."
External Perception
Cheney took pleasure in nicknames imposed on him by detractors such as the dark character and The Prince of Darkness, and by the concept that he was a shadow power directing Bush. In the author's 2013 volume about the duo, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is quoted as saying: "Am I the malevolent mastermind in the shadows that operates invisibly leave his lair? It's a effective way to operate, truthfully."
Business Interests
Dispute over his business interests followed him throughout his time as second-in-command. While he had minimal expertise in corporate affairs but strong connections in defence, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's biggest 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 Iraq war, Halliburton was given US contracts valued at substantial sums.
It greatly increased his wealth. His annual income during his time at the corporation rose from his quarter-million dollars during his time as military head to millions. When he resigned in 2000 he had a severance arrangement worth over $20m|twenty
