The late US VP Dick Cheney, who died at age 84, was regarded as one of the most significant holders of that office in American history. Whereas many second-in-commands were limited to peripheral or symbolic positions, Cheney exercised substantial influence during the administration of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was commonly called as the "actual president".
Bush disliked this portrayal and claimed the dynamic was more complicated. He noted that Cheney was courteous, always addressing him in public settings as President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush disputed even portrayals of their partnership as a team because it suggested that they were peers. Regardless of these objections, Cheney viewed the easygoing president accommodating on a wide array of policy decisions.
A Aftermath of 9/11
At the head of a contingent of neo-cons that included defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the military intervention of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the September 11th attacks on New York and Washington. During of the 9/11 strike, Bush had been participating in a gathering at a school in Florida. While Bush traveled to a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, commanding the downing of any non-communicating planes approaching the government building.
Cheney claimed the attacks altered his perspective, leading him to become determined on retaliation. Together with other neo-conservatives, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a occupation of Afghanistan in an endeavor to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the armed intervention of Iraq, even though there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Controversial Policies
He showed no remorse about the military campaign, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis perished, and not about the enhanced interrogation of detainees captured after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was founded on faulty intelligence repeated by Cheney, was the proper course of action. "It proved to be the correct action to do then. I believed it then and I hold that view presently."
But even at the time, there were contrary opinions at a top tier about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the White House's own delegates to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the role. "I witnessed, at the very least," he later wrote "clear negligence, carelessness, and irresponsibility: potentially, falsehoods, unfitness, and dishonesty."
Broader Context
Cheney was not entirely accountable for the Iraq invasion. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for such action. He had drafted a memorandum detailing situations in which American interests might be endangered (including "obtaining crucial commodities, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "the US should be postured to operate alone when cooperative measures cannot be orchestrated," specifically referencing defense operations against Iraq.
Bush too had arrived in the Oval Office generally inclined on implementing what his parent had notably declined to do in 1991; topple Saddam. Following he had been fired by the White House, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his objective of diminishing America's involvement in the Middle East dispute and mooted military action against Iraq.
Bush bore a individual resentment against Saddam, believing he had been responsible for a conspiracy to assassinate his father, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He also objected to that one of the biggest establishments in Baghdad had a ground design with a image of his father's countenance that all visitors had to step on.
Questioning Techniques
But it was Cheney who was among the most vehement behind attacking Iraq, frequently quoting agency briefings that were whether weak or totally misleading. He endorsed what the Bush White House euphemistically referred to as "intensive questioning", the application of interrogation method and harsh treatment.
Responding to a Senate document in 2014 that concluded that no actionable intelligence had resulted from the torture, Cheney dismissed the report as "full of crap". He informed Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to take steps and put in place programmes to apprehend the individuals who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it was not repeated. That was specifically what they did and they deserve a lot of credit."
Public Image
Cheney enjoyed labels given to him by opponents such as Darth Vader and The Prince of Darkness, and by the concept that he was a sinister influence directing Bush. In the author's 2013 book about the two, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is cited as commenting: "Am I the malevolent mastermind in the shadows that remains unseen leave his domain? That is a nice way to function, actually."
Business Interests
Controversy over his commercial relationships followed him during his tenure as VP. While he had minimal expertise in corporate affairs but good contacts in defence, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial energy conglomerates, in 1995 as chairman and chief executive.
In 2000 he became Bush's VP candidate for the presidency. Controversially, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was given US contracts totaling billions.
It significantly boosted his finances. His yearly earnings during his period at the company grew from his quarter-million dollars during his time as defence secretary to millions. When he departed in 2000 he had a package valued at more than $20m|twenty
