The deceased US VP Dick Cheney, who passed away at the age of 84, was considered one of the most powerful holders of that office in the nation's history. Although numerous vice-presidents had to settle for minor or symbolic functions, Cheney held huge influence during the presidency of George W Bush, to the point that he was often described as the "true president".
Bush objected to this portrayal and claimed the dynamic was more complicated. He noted that Cheney was respectful, invariably calling him in official appearances as Mr President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush questioned even characterisations of their relationship as a collaboration because it implied that they were equals. Regardless of these denials, Cheney viewed the relaxed president pliable on a whole raft of policy decisions.
The Period Following the Attacks
Leading of a faction of conservative hawks that encompassed defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the military intervention of Iraq in 2003 in reaction to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. At the time of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been attending a gathering at a elementary school in Florida. Whereas Bush headed for a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, commanding the destruction of any non-communicating planes nearing the US Capitol.
Cheney claimed the attacks transformed him, leading him to become determined on retaliation. In conjunction with other neo-cons, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a takeover of Afghanistan in an effort to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then pressed fiercely for the military action of Iraq, although there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Disputed Policies
He showed no remorse about the invasion, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, and not about the enhanced interrogation of individuals apprehended after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was predicated on inaccurate information repeated by Cheney, was the proper course of action. "It proved to be the right thing to do at that time. I believed it at the time and I believe it presently."
However even then, there were opposing views at a top tier about the poor management 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 role. "I witnessed, at a minimum," he subsequently stated "true dereliction, negligence, and unaccountability: at worst, deception, ineptitude, and dishonesty."
Broader Context
Cheney was not completely to blame for the Iraq campaign. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for similar measures. He had composed a document detailing circumstances in which American interests might be threatened (including "access to crucial commodities, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "America should be prepared to take unilateral action when collective action prove impossible," specifically mentioning defense operations against Iraq.
Bush additionally had assumed the presidency vaguely intent on carrying out what his father had notably declined to do in 1991; remove Saddam. After he had been fired by the president, the finance chief Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had announced his plan of reducing America's involvement in the regional tensions and mooted military action against Iraq.
Bush carried a private grievance against Saddam, believing he had been responsible for a conspiracy to assassinate his predecessor, 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 image of his father's visage that everyone had to tread upon.
Questioning Techniques
But it was Cheney who was one of the most vehement supporting invading Iraq, consistently citing intelligence reports that were both thin or entirely inaccurate. He supported what the Bush White House indirectly described as "enhanced interrogation", the use of simulated drowning and physical pressure.
Responding to a Senate analysis in 2014 that determined that no useful information had come from the torture, Cheney dismissed the report as "full of crap". He stated to Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to establish protocols and put in place programmes to apprehend the individuals who took the lives of 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it never happened again. That was specifically what they did and they merit a lot of credit."
Public Persona
Cheney took pleasure in monikers assigned to him by critics such as the dark character and The Prince of Darkness, and by the concept that he was a sinister influence manipulating Bush. In the author's 2013 book about the pair, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is cited as commenting: "Is it me who is the evil genius in the corner that nobody ever sees leave his lair? That is a nice way to function, in fact."
Corporate Connections
Debate over his business interests pursued him during his tenure as second-in-command. Even though he had little experience in business but established relationships in security, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's biggest oil and gas companies, in 1995 as chairman and CEO.
In 2000 he was selected as Bush's VP candidate for the presidency. Controversially, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was given US contracts totaling billions.
It greatly increased his wealth. His yearly compensation during his time at the firm rose from his previous salary while defence secretary to over four million. When he departed in 2000 he had a compensation package valued at in excess of $20m|twenty
