The deceased US vice-president Dick Cheney, who died at the age of 84, was considered among the most powerful incumbents of that position in American history. Although numerous second-in-commands had to settle for peripheral or ceremonial positions, Cheney wielded enormous influence during the administration of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was commonly called as the "real president".
Bush resented that description and said the dynamic was more complex. He noted that Cheney was respectful, always referring to him in public settings as Mr President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush challenged even characterisations of their association as a partnership because it implied that they were on equal footing. Despite these objections, Cheney found the laidback president pliable on a whole raft of administrative determinations.
A Period Following the Attacks
At the head of a contingent of neo-conservatives that encompassed defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the military intervention of Iraq in 2003 in response to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 assault, Bush had been attending a session at a educational institution in Florida. Whereas Bush made his way to a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, directing the shooting down of any unidentified aircraft approaching the Capitol building.
Cheney claimed the assaults altered his perspective, leading him to become determined on revenge. In conjunction with other neo-conservatives, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a invasion of Afghanistan in an attempt to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the military action of Iraq, even though there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein having involvement.
Debated Actions
He expressed no regrets about the invasion, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, and not about the harsh treatment of suspects rounded up after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was founded on inaccurate intelligence repeated by Cheney, was the proper decision. "It proved to be the correct action to do at that time. I was convinced back then and I believe it now."
However during that period, there were dissenting voices at a senior level about the poor management of Iraq. One of the White House's own special envoys to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the role. "I witnessed, at a minimum," he subsequently stated "clear negligence, carelessness, and irresponsibility: in the worst case, falsehoods, unfitness, and corruption."
Additional Factors
Cheney was not solely responsible for the Iraq military action. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for comparable steps. He had drafted a memo setting out scenarios in which US concerns might be compromised (including "access to essential resources, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "the United States should be positioned to act independently when joint efforts cannot be orchestrated," explicitly citing defense operations against Iraq.
Bush additionally had arrived in the Oval Office generally inclined on implementing what his parent had notably declined to do in 1991; topple Saddam. Following he had been dismissed by the president, 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 reducing America's participation in the regional tensions and suggested armed intervention against Iraq.
Bush held a personal grudge against Saddam, thinking he had been behind a plot to assassinate his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore disliked that one of the biggest hotels in Baghdad had a ground design with a likeness of his predecessor's visage that all visitors had to walk over.
Interrogation Methods
Yet it was Cheney who was among the most vehement advocating striking Iraq, consistently citing agency briefings that were both weak or entirely deceptive. He backed what the Bush administration euphemistically referred to as "enhanced interrogation", the use of waterboarding and harsh treatment.
Responding to a Senate document in 2014 that concluded that no actionable intelligence had come from the torture, Cheney dismissed the report as "riddled with crap". He stated to Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to implement measures and put in place programmes to catch the perpetrators who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it was not repeated. That's exactly what they did and they deserve a lot of praise."
Public Image
Cheney enjoyed nicknames imposed on him by detractors such as the dark character and the dark figure, and by the notion that he was a sinister influence directing Bush. In Peter Baker's 2013 book about the two, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is quoted as saying: "Do I represent the evil genius in the background that operates invisibly come out of his lair? This represents a nice way to operate, truthfully."
Commercial Ties
Controversy over his business interests pursued him through his period as second-in-command. Even though he had limited background in corporate affairs but established relationships in defence, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial petroleum corporations, in 1995 as leader and CEO.
In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's running mate for the White House. Debatably, during the military campaign, Halliburton was granted US deals worth billions.
It significantly boosted his finances. His yearly earnings during his time at the firm rose from his quarter-million dollars during his time as defence secretary to $4.4m. When he resigned in 2000 he had a compensation package totaling more than $20m|twenty
