The former US vice-president Dick Cheney, who passed away at the age of 84, was seen as arguably the most influential occupants of that office in American history. While countless vice-presidents were confined to peripheral or symbolic functions, Cheney exercised huge influence during the administration of George W Bush, so much so that he was commonly described as the "real president".
Bush resented this portrayal and stated the relationship was more nuanced. He noted that Cheney was respectful, consistently referring to him in public settings as Mr President, while he called him as Dick. Bush disputed even characterisations of their association as a partnership because it implied that they were on equal footing. Regardless of these denials, Cheney viewed the laidback president pliable on a broad range of policy decisions.
The Period Following the Attacks
Leading of a faction of conservative hawks that included military head Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the military intervention of Iraq in 2003 in reaction to the September 11th attacks on New York and Washington. At the time of the 9/11 assault, Bush had been participating in a session at a school in Florida. While Bush made his way to a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, commanding the shooting down of any unidentified aircraft nearing the Capitol building.
Cheney claimed the assaults transformed him, making him become focused on retribution. Along with other neo-conservatives, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a invasion of Afghanistan in an effort to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then pressed fiercely for the invasion of Iraq, even though there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Disputed Actions
He showed no remorse about the armed intervention, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis perished, and not about the enhanced interrogation of suspects rounded up after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was founded on misleading intelligence repeated by Cheney, was the correct path to take. "It represented the proper decision to do then. I had faith then and I maintain that stance presently."
But even then, there were contrary opinions at a senior level about the botched execution of Iraq. One of the White House's own special envoys to the Middle East, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the position. "I observed, as a baseline," he wrote later "obvious failure, carelessness, and irresponsibility: in the worst case, falsehoods, ineptitude, and dishonesty."
Additional Factors
Cheney was not entirely accountable for the Iraq invasion. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for comparable steps. He had composed a document outlining scenarios in which American interests might be threatened (including "obtaining crucial commodities, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "the US should be prepared to operate alone when cooperative measures prove impossible," particularly mentioning armed actions against Iraq.
Bush additionally had arrived in the presidency somewhat determined on carrying out what his predecessor had specifically avoided to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. After he had been dismissed by the president, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill disclosed how, at the first meeting of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his plan of diminishing America's engagement in the Middle East dispute and mooted military action against Iraq.
Bush carried a personal grudge against Saddam, convinced he had been responsible for a scheme to murder his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally resented that one of the biggest hotels in Baghdad had a ground design with a portrait of his predecessor's face that all visitors had to step on.
Investigation Approaches
However it was Cheney who was one of the most vociferous advocating attacking Iraq, repeatedly quoting intelligence reports that were both weak or entirely inaccurate. He backed what the Bush government indirectly described as "advanced techniques", the application of simulated drowning and physical pressure.
Addressing a Senate report in 2014 that found that no useful information had come from the torture, Cheney dismissed the conclusions as "loaded with crap". He stated to Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to take steps and put in place procedures to catch the individuals who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it was not repeated. That is precisely what they did and they merit a lot of recognition."
External Perception
Cheney enjoyed labels assigned to him by detractors such as the Star Wars villain and the sinister presence, and by the idea that he was a dark force controlling Bush. In Peter Baker's 2013 book about the duo, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is reported as stating: "Is it me who is the malevolent mastermind in the corner that remains unseen emerge from his domain? This represents a nice way to operate, in fact."
Business Interests
Dispute over his commercial relationships accompanied him through his period as second-in-command. While he had little experience in commerce but strong connections in military, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's largest energy companies, in 1995 as chairman and top executive.
In 2000 he was selected as Bush's election partner for the White House. Debatably, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was given US agreements valued at multiple billions.
It made him rich. His annual income during his period at the company rose from his previous salary while Pentagon chief to over four million. When he departed in 2000 he had a package worth in excess of $20m|twenty
