The deceased US vice-president Dick Cheney, who passed away at age 84, was seen as arguably the most influential holders of the vice-presidency in the nation's history. While countless second-in-commands had to settle for marginal or figurehead roles, Cheney held substantial power during the term of George W Bush, to the point that he was frequently referred to as the "actual president".
Bush objected to such a characterisation and stated the connection was more complex. He pointed out that Cheney was deferential, invariably calling him in public as the President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush challenged even descriptions of their association as a collaboration because it indicated that they were on equal footing. Regardless of such protestations, Cheney found the relaxed president malleable on a whole raft of policy decisions.
The Aftermath of 9/11
At the head of a contingent of neo-cons that included military head Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in response to the September 11th attacks on New York and Washington. During of the 9/11 strike, Bush had been taking part in a meeting at a elementary school in Florida. While Bush headed for a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, directing the shooting down of any unresponsive aircraft approaching the Capitol building.
Cheney stated the strikes altered his perspective, making him become focused on retaliation. Along with other conservative figures, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a takeover of Afghanistan in an effort to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the armed intervention of Iraq, though there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein playing a role.
Debated Decisions
He voiced no apologies about the armed intervention, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, nor about the harsh treatment of detainees rounded up after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was based on faulty intelligence circulated by Cheney, was the proper decision. "It was the correct action to do then. I had faith then and I maintain that stance now."
Yet even then, there were dissenting voices at a top tier about the poor management of Iraq. One of the administration's own delegates to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the post. "I witnessed, as a baseline," he subsequently stated "true dereliction, carelessness, and unaccountability: at worst, lying, incompetence, and dishonesty."
Broader Context
Cheney was not solely to blame for the Iraq military action. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for comparable steps. He had written a memorandum detailing circumstances in which national priorities might be endangered (featuring "access to essential resources, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "the United States should be postured to operate alone when cooperative measures prove impossible," particularly citing defense operations against Iraq.
Bush too had assumed the presidency generally inclined on executing what his parent had notably declined to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. After he had been dismissed by the administration, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the first meeting of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his intention of reducing America's participation in the Middle East dispute and suggested defense operations against Iraq.
Bush carried a individual resentment against Saddam, believing he had been responsible for a scheme to assassinate his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally disliked that one of the most prominent hotels in Baghdad had a ground design with a portrait of his parent's visage that everyone had to walk over.
Interrogation Methods
Yet it was Cheney who was one of the most vociferous supporting striking Iraq, repeatedly citing agency briefings that were either insubstantial or entirely inaccurate. He backed what the Bush White House indirectly described as "advanced techniques", the employment of interrogation method and torture.
Answering a Senate analysis in 2014 that determined that no valuable data had come from the torture, Cheney rejected the conclusions as "riddled with crap". He informed Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to establish protocols and establish initiatives to apprehend the perpetrators who took the lives of 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it would not recur. That is precisely what they did and they merit a lot of praise."
External Perception
Cheney enjoyed labels imposed on him by critics such as the Star Wars villain and the dark figure, and by the notion that he was a dark force directing Bush. In Peter Baker's 2013 volume about the duo, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is reported as stating: "Am I the sinister strategist in the shadows that nobody ever sees come out of his domain? That is a nice way to operate, truthfully."
Business Interests
Controversy over his corporate affiliations followed him throughout his time as vice-president. Even though he had limited background in corporate affairs but established relationships in defence, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's largest petroleum companies, in 1995 as chairman and CEO.
In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's running mate for the White House. Contentiously, during the military campaign, Halliburton was given US contracts worth substantial sums.
It made him rich. His annual income during his time at the company rose from his previous salary during his time as Pentagon chief to millions. When he left in 2000 he had a package totaling in excess of $20m|twenty
