The late US vice-president Dick Cheney, who died at the age of 84, was regarded as among the most influential holders of that office in American history. While many second-in-commands were confined to marginal or symbolic positions, Cheney exercised substantial sway during the administration of George W Bush, to the point that he was often referred to as the "actual president".
Bush objected to this portrayal and said the relationship was more complex. He observed that Cheney was deferential, invariably calling him in public settings as President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush disputed even characterisations of their relationship as a partnership because it suggested that they were equals. In spite of these denials, Cheney considered the easygoing president pliable on a whole raft of administrative determinations.
The Aftermath of 9/11
Leading of a faction of neo-conservatives that featured Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the invasion of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. During of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been taking part in a gathering at a elementary school in Florida. As Bush traveled to a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, commanding the downing of any unidentified aircraft nearing the Capitol building.
Cheney stated the attacks changed him, leading him to become intent on retribution. Along with other neo-cons, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a invasion of Afghanistan in an attempt to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the armed intervention of Iraq, even though there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein having involvement.
Controversial Policies
He voiced no apologies about the military campaign, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, or about the enhanced interrogation of suspects captured after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was based on misleading information circulated by Cheney, was the proper path to take. "It was the right thing to do back then. I was convinced at the time and I hold that view today."
Yet during that period, there were contrary opinions at a senior level about the poor management of Iraq. One of the government's own representatives to the Middle East, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the position. "I observed, at a minimum," he wrote later "clear negligence, negligence, and unaccountability: potentially, lying, ineptitude, and dishonesty."
Broader Context
Cheney was not entirely to blame for the Iraq campaign. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for similar measures. He had composed a memorandum setting out circumstances in which US concerns might be endangered (encompassing "obtaining crucial commodities, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "the United States should be prepared to act independently when collective action cannot be orchestrated," specifically mentioning armed actions against Iraq.
Bush additionally had arrived in the presidency generally inclined on carrying out what his parent had notably declined to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. Subsequent to he had been fired by the administration, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the first meeting of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had announced his objective of reducing America's engagement in the Middle East dispute and suggested armed intervention against Iraq.
Bush held a private grievance against Saddam, thinking he had been responsible for a plot to kill his parent, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore resented that one of the most prominent hotels in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a portrait of his predecessor's face that each person had to step on.
Interrogation Methods
Yet it was Cheney who was part of the most vociferous behind striking Iraq, repeatedly quoting intelligence reports that were both insubstantial or totally misleading. He endorsed what the Bush administration indirectly described as "enhanced interrogation", the employment of waterboarding and torture.
Addressing a Senate analysis in 2014 that found that no actionable intelligence had resulted from the harsh techniques, Cheney disregarded the findings as "full of crap". He informed Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to establish protocols and put in place procedures to apprehend the bastards who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it would not recur. That is precisely what they did and they earn a lot of recognition."
Public Persona
Cheney enjoyed monikers assigned to him by detractors such as the Star Wars villain and the dark figure, and by the concept that he was a shadow power directing Bush. In the author's 2013 volume about the two, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is quoted as saying: "Am I the sinister strategist in the background that remains unseen come out of his lair? That is a advantageous way to function, in fact."
Commercial Ties
Debate over his business interests accompanied him through his period as VP. While he had little experience in business but good contacts in defence, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial energy conglomerates, in 1995 as chairman and top executive.
In 2000 he became Bush's election partner for the executive branch. Controversially, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was awarded US deals valued at substantial sums.
It made him rich. His annual income during his period at the corporation increased from his $258,394 when he was defence secretary to $4.4m. When he resigned in 2000 he had a package valued at over $20m|twenty
