The deceased US vice-president Dick Cheney, who died at age 84, was seen as one of the most influential occupants of the vice-presidency in US history. While numerous vice-presidents were confined to minor or ceremonial roles, Cheney wielded enormous influence during the presidency of George W Bush, so much so that he was commonly referred to as the "actual president".
Bush disliked that description and said the dynamic was more complicated. He observed that Cheney was deferential, invariably calling him in public as Mr President, while he called him as Dick. Bush disputed even portrayals of their relationship as a collaboration because it indicated that they were equals. Regardless of these denials, Cheney considered the easygoing president accommodating on a whole raft of governmental choices.
A Period Following the Attacks
Leading of a group of neo-cons that encompassed Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the military intervention of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. At the time of the 9/11 strike, Bush had been taking part in a session at a educational institution in Florida. As Bush made his way to a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, ordering the shooting down of any non-communicating airplanes nearing the government building.
Cheney claimed the assaults altered his perspective, leading him to become intent on retaliation. Together with other conservative figures, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a occupation of Afghanistan in an effort to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the military action of Iraq, although there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein playing a role.
Debated Actions
He showed no remorse about the invasion, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, and not about the harsh treatment of individuals apprehended after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was founded on misleading information repeated by Cheney, was the right path to take. "It represented the right thing to do at that time. I was convinced back then and I maintain that stance today."
However even at the time, there were contrary opinions at a senior level about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the administration's own special envoys to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the position. "I saw, at the very least," he subsequently stated "clear negligence, negligence, and irresponsibility: in the worst case, falsehoods, ineptitude, and graft."
Broader Context
Cheney was not solely accountable for the Iraq invasion. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for comparable steps. He had written a memorandum detailing circumstances in which national priorities might be endangered (encompassing "access to vital raw materials, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "the US should be prepared to operate alone when cooperative measures prove impossible," specifically citing military moves against Iraq.
Bush too had assumed the Oval Office generally inclined on carrying out what his parent had notably declined to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. Following he had been dismissed by the administration, the finance chief Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his intention of diminishing America's participation in the regional tensions and proposed armed intervention against Iraq.
Bush carried a individual resentment against Saddam, thinking he had been involved in a scheme to murder his parent, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore resented that one of the most prominent establishments in Baghdad had a floor mural with a likeness of his predecessor's countenance that everyone had to tread upon.
Questioning Techniques
However it was Cheney who was one of the most vehement behind attacking Iraq, frequently quoting agency briefings that were both insubstantial or totally inaccurate. He backed what the Bush White House euphemistically referred to as "enhanced interrogation", the use of simulated drowning and harsh treatment.
Answering a Senate analysis in 2014 that found that no actionable intelligence had been obtained through the harsh techniques, Cheney disregarded the conclusions as "full of crap". He told Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to implement measures and put in place procedures to capture the perpetrators who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it never happened again. That was specifically what they did and they merit a lot of praise."
Public Persona
Cheney enjoyed labels assigned to him by opponents such as the dark character and the dark figure, and by the idea that he was a dark force directing Bush. In the journalist's 2013 publication about the duo, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is cited as commenting: "Is it me who is the malevolent mastermind in the corner that remains unseen emerge from his lair? That is a effective way to operate, in fact."
Business Interests
Controversy over his commercial relationships followed him throughout his time as vice-president. While he had minimal expertise in business but established relationships in military, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's largest energy corporations, in 1995 as leader and CEO.
In 2000 he was selected as Bush's election partner for the executive branch. Contentiously, during the military campaign, Halliburton was awarded US contracts totaling substantial sums.
It made him rich. His annual income during his period at the corporation increased from his $258,394 during his time as defence secretary to $4.4m. When he resigned in 2000 he had a severance arrangement worth in excess of $20m|twenty
