The former US vice-president Dick Cheney, who passed away at age 84, was seen as one of the most influential holders of that office in US history. While numerous second-in-commands were confined to minor or figurehead functions, Cheney exercised substantial power during the administration of George W Bush, to the point that he was often described as the "true president".
Bush disliked such a characterisation and said the connection was more complicated. He noted that Cheney was deferential, always calling him in official appearances as Mr President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush disputed even descriptions of their relationship as a team because it implied that they were equals. Regardless of these objections, Cheney found the easygoing president malleable on a wide array of policy decisions.
The Aftermath of 9/11
Leading of a contingent of neo-conservatives that included defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in reaction to the September 11th attacks on New York and Washington. At the time of the 9/11 strike, Bush had been taking part in a gathering at a elementary school in Florida. While Bush made his way to a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, ordering the downing of any unidentified aircraft approaching the US Capitol.
Cheney said the strikes altered his perspective, making him become determined on revenge. Together with other neo-conservatives, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a takeover of Afghanistan in an endeavor to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then pressed fiercely for the armed intervention of Iraq, though there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein having involvement.
Disputed Actions
He expressed no regrets about the military campaign, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis perished, or about the enhanced interrogation of detainees captured after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was based on faulty intelligence circulated by Cheney, was the correct course of action. "It proved to be the correct action to do back then. I was convinced then and I believe it today."
But even at the time, there were opposing views at a senior level about the poor management of Iraq. One of the administration's own delegates to the Middle East, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the post. "I observed, as a baseline," he later wrote "clear negligence, inaction, and irresponsibility: at worst, deception, unfitness, and corruption."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not entirely accountable for the Iraq campaign. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for such action. He had composed a memorandum detailing situations in which US concerns might be compromised (featuring "access to vital raw materials, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "the US should be prepared to operate alone when cooperative measures prove impossible," specifically mentioning defense operations against Iraq.
Bush too had arrived in the presidency somewhat determined on executing what his parent had famously refused to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. After he had been fired by the president, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the first meeting of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his intention of diminishing America's engagement in the Middle East dispute and proposed defense operations against Iraq.
Bush bore a individual resentment against Saddam, thinking he had been involved in a conspiracy to assassinate his father, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore resented that one of the most prominent establishments in Baghdad had a floor mural with a likeness of his predecessor's countenance that everyone had to tread upon.
Investigation Approaches
Yet it was Cheney who was part of the most vociferous supporting striking Iraq, repeatedly quoting information documents that were both insubstantial or totally misleading. He endorsed what the Bush White House euphemistically referred to as "enhanced interrogation", the use of simulated drowning and harsh treatment.
Answering a Senate document in 2014 that determined that no actionable intelligence had come from the interrogation methods, Cheney disregarded the conclusions as "loaded with crap". He informed Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to implement measures and create procedures to apprehend the individuals who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it never happened again. That is precisely what they did and they deserve a lot of recognition."
Public Persona
Cheney enjoyed nicknames imposed on him by opponents such as Darth Vader and The Prince of Darkness, and by the idea that he was a shadow power controlling Bush. In the journalist's 2013 volume about the two, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is quoted as saying: "Is it me who is the evil genius in the background that nobody ever sees emerge from his domain? This represents a nice way to function, actually."
Commercial Ties
Dispute over his business interests accompanied him during his tenure as second-in-command. Although he had minimal expertise in commerce but established relationships in defence, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's biggest petroleum conglomerates, in 1995 as chairman and chief executive.
In 2000 he became Bush's VP candidate for the executive branch. Debatably, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was granted US deals totaling multiple billions.
It significantly boosted his finances. His annual income during his time at the corporation increased from his quarter-million dollars when he was defence secretary to over four million. When he resigned in 2000 he had a severance arrangement totaling over $20m|twenty
