The former US vice-president Dick Cheney, who passed away at age 84, was considered among the most significant holders of that office in US history. Whereas countless second-in-commands were confined to peripheral or ceremonial roles, Cheney exercised substantial power during the presidency of George W Bush, so much so that he was often described as the "real president".
Bush disliked that description and claimed the relationship was more nuanced. He pointed out that Cheney was courteous, invariably referring to him in official appearances as President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush questioned even descriptions of their association as a team because it suggested that they were on equal footing. Despite these objections, Cheney viewed the relaxed president malleable on a wide array of policy decisions.
The Aftermath of 9/11
In charge of a contingent of neo-conservatives that featured military head Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the military intervention of Iraq in 2003 in response to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. During of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been attending a meeting at a educational institution in Florida. Whereas Bush traveled to a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney took command, commanding the destruction of any unresponsive aircraft nearing the US Capitol.
Cheney claimed the strikes changed him, making him become determined on revenge. Along with other neo-conservatives, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a invasion of Afghanistan in an effort to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then pressed fiercely for the military action of Iraq, although there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein having involvement.
Controversial Actions
He expressed no regrets about the military campaign, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis died, and not about the harsh treatment of suspects captured after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was predicated on misleading reports circulated by Cheney, was the correct path to take. "It was the proper decision to do back then. I was convinced at the time and I maintain that stance today."
Yet during that period, there were dissenting voices at a senior level about the poor management of Iraq. One of the government's own delegates to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the post. "I witnessed, at the very least," he later wrote "true dereliction, negligence, and recklessness: in the worst case, lying, unfitness, and corruption."
Additional Factors
Cheney was not solely accountable for the Iraq military action. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for such action. He had drafted a memo setting out situations in which national priorities might be endangered (featuring "availability of essential resources, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "the United States should be positioned to operate alone when joint efforts prove impossible," particularly citing armed actions against Iraq.
Bush too had assumed the presidency somewhat determined on implementing what his predecessor had notably declined to do in 1991; remove Saddam. After he had been sacked by the president, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his objective of lowering America's participation in the Middle East dispute and suggested defense operations against Iraq.
Bush held a private grievance against Saddam, thinking he had been behind a conspiracy to assassinate his father, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He also disliked that one of the most prominent accommodations in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a portrait of his predecessor's countenance that everyone had to step on.
Interrogation Methods
However it was Cheney who was part of the most outspoken behind attacking Iraq, repeatedly citing intelligence reports that were whether insubstantial or totally misleading. He endorsed what the Bush administration euphemistically referred to as "advanced techniques", the application of interrogation method and harsh treatment.
Addressing a Senate document in 2014 that determined that no useful information had come from the torture, Cheney rejected the report as "riddled with crap". He told Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to take steps and create initiatives to catch the bastards who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it never happened again. That was specifically what they did and they deserve a lot of recognition."
Public Persona
Cheney took pleasure in labels imposed on him by critics such as the dark character and the sinister presence, and by the notion that he was a sinister influence manipulating Bush. In the journalist's 2013 book about the pair, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is quoted as saying: "Is it me who is the evil genius in the shadows that nobody ever sees leave his domain? It's a effective way to function, in fact."
Business Interests
Debate over his commercial relationships pursued him through his period as second-in-command. Although he had minimal expertise in corporate affairs but strong connections in security, notably 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 VP candidate for the presidency. Controversially, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was given US deals valued at substantial sums.
It greatly increased his wealth. His annual income during his tenure at the firm rose from his $258,394 during his time as military head to $4.4m. When he departed in 2000 he had a package worth over $20m|twenty
