The former US VP Dick Cheney, who passed away at the age of 84, was regarded as arguably the most influential holders of the vice-presidency in US history. Whereas countless second-in-commands were limited to peripheral or ceremonial positions, Cheney exercised huge sway during the term of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was frequently referred to as the "true president".
Bush disliked that description and said the relationship was more complex. He noted that Cheney was respectful, invariably calling him in public as the President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush challenged even characterisations of their partnership as a team because it indicated that they were on equal footing. Regardless of these objections, Cheney considered the laidback president pliable on a wide array of administrative determinations.
The Period Following the Attacks
Leading of a faction of neo-conservatives that encompassed defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the military intervention of Iraq in 2003 in response to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. At the time of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been attending a session at a educational institution in Florida. As Bush headed for a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, directing the downing of any unresponsive planes nearing the Capitol building.
Cheney said the attacks altered his perspective, leading him to become intent on retaliation. Along with other neo-conservatives, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a invasion of Afghanistan in an attempt to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the military action of Iraq, though there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein playing a role.
Disputed Decisions
He expressed no regrets about the invasion, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis died, nor about the waterboarding of detainees apprehended after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was based on inaccurate intelligence repeated by Cheney, was the right path to take. "It represented the right thing to do at that time. I was convinced at the time and I maintain that stance today."
But during that period, there were contrary opinions at a senior level 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, as a baseline," he later wrote "obvious failure, inaction, and recklessness: in the worst case, deception, unfitness, and graft."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not completely responsible for the Iraq military action. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for comparable steps. He had composed a memorandum detailing scenarios in which national priorities might be threatened (including "obtaining vital raw materials, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "the US should be postured to operate alone when collective action cannot be arranged," specifically mentioning defense operations against Iraq.
Bush also had arrived in the Oval Office generally inclined on executing what his parent had specifically avoided to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. After he had been sacked by the administration, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill disclosed how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had announced his intention of lowering America's engagement in the Middle East dispute and suggested military action against Iraq.
Bush held a private grievance against Saddam, thinking he had been responsible for a conspiracy to assassinate his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a journey 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 parent's face that everyone had to walk over.
Questioning Techniques
However it was Cheney who was one of the most outspoken behind invading Iraq, frequently quoting information documents that were whether weak or entirely deceptive. He supported what the Bush White House euphemistically referred to as "intensive questioning", the employment of waterboarding and physical pressure.
Responding to a Senate analysis in 2014 that determined that no useful information had come from the interrogation methods, Cheney dismissed the conclusions as "riddled with crap". He stated to Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to implement measures and put in place programmes 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 earn a lot of praise."
Public Image
Cheney reveled in labels given to him by critics such as the dark character and the sinister presence, and by the notion that he was a sinister influence directing Bush. In the journalist's 2013 publication about the pair, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is cited as commenting: "Do I represent the malevolent mastermind in the shadows that nobody ever sees emerge from his lair? That is a effective way to function, truthfully."
Commercial Ties
Dispute over his commercial relationships followed him throughout his time as second-in-command. Even though he had minimal expertise in commerce but strong connections in defence, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's largest oil and gas corporations, in 1995 as chair and CEO.
In 2000 he was selected as Bush's running mate for the White House. Debatably, during the military campaign, Halliburton was awarded US agreements valued at substantial sums.
It significantly boosted his finances. His annual income during his period at the company grew from his previous salary during his time as defence secretary to over four million. When he left in 2000 he had a compensation package totaling over $20m|twenty
