The former US vice-president Dick Cheney, who died at age 84, was seen as arguably the most powerful holders of that position in American history. Although numerous second-in-commands were confined to marginal or symbolic roles, Cheney held substantial influence during the term of George W Bush, to the point that he was commonly described as the "actual president".
Bush objected to this portrayal and said the relationship was more nuanced. He pointed out that Cheney was respectful, always referring to him in official appearances as President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush disputed even characterisations of their association as a collaboration because it suggested that they were peers. In spite of such protestations, Cheney considered the easygoing president pliable on a whole raft of governmental choices.
The Aftermath of 9/11
In charge of a group of neo-conservatives that featured military head Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the military intervention of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the September 11th attacks on New York and Washington. At the time of the 9/11 assault, Bush had been taking part in a gathering at a elementary school in Florida. Whereas Bush headed for a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney took command, commanding the shooting down of any non-communicating airplanes approaching the Capitol building.
Cheney claimed the strikes altered his perspective, making him become intent on revenge. Along with other conservative figures, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a occupation of Afghanistan in an effort to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the invasion of Iraq, even though there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein playing a role.
Disputed Actions
He expressed no regrets about the military campaign, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis died, and not about the enhanced interrogation of suspects rounded up after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was founded on misleading intelligence circulated by Cheney, was the proper path to take. "It represented the proper decision to do back then. I believed it at the time and I believe it now."
However even then, there were dissenting voices at a top tier about the botched execution of Iraq. One of the government's own special envoys to the Middle East, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the position. "I observed, at a minimum," he later wrote "clear negligence, carelessness, and recklessness: at worst, deception, unfitness, and dishonesty."
Additional Factors
Cheney was not entirely responsible for the Iraq military action. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for such action. He had composed a memorandum detailing scenarios in which national priorities might be endangered (featuring "availability of essential resources, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "America should be postured to operate alone when cooperative measures prove impossible," explicitly referencing armed actions against Iraq.
Bush too had entered the White House generally inclined on executing what his father had famously refused to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. Following he had been fired by the administration, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his objective of reducing America's participation in the Middle East dispute and proposed armed intervention against Iraq.
Bush held a individual resentment against Saddam, convinced he had been involved in a scheme to assassinate his parent, 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 image of his predecessor's face that everyone had to tread upon.
Questioning Techniques
However it was Cheney who was one of the most outspoken advocating striking Iraq, frequently referencing intelligence reports that were either weak or completely inaccurate. He endorsed what the Bush government euphemistically referred to as "enhanced interrogation", the employment of simulated drowning and harsh treatment.
Addressing a Senate report in 2014 that determined that no useful information had resulted from the interrogation methods, Cheney dismissed the findings as "loaded with crap". He stated to Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to implement measures and put in place initiatives to apprehend the perpetrators who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it was not repeated. That is precisely what they did and they earn a lot of praise."
External Perception
Cheney reveled in labels given to him by critics such as the dark character and the sinister presence, and by the idea that he was a dark force directing Bush. In the author's 2013 publication about the pair, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is cited as commenting: "Am I the sinister strategist in the shadows that operates invisibly come out of his lair? That is a effective way to function, truthfully."
Corporate Connections
Controversy over his commercial relationships followed him during his tenure as VP. While he had little experience in commerce but good contacts in security, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's biggest oil and gas corporations, in 1995 as chair and CEO.
In 2000 he became Bush's election partner for the presidency. Contentiously, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was granted US agreements worth billions.
It significantly boosted his finances. His annual income during his period at the company rose from his quarter-million dollars during his time as military head to millions. When he left in 2000 he had a package valued at over $20m|twenty
