The late US vice-president Dick Cheney, who died at age 84, was considered arguably the most significant occupants of the vice-presidency in US history. Whereas countless second-in-commands were limited to marginal or figurehead positions, Cheney held enormous influence during the term of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was frequently referred to as the "true president".
Bush objected to such a characterisation and said the dynamic was more complicated. He pointed out that Cheney was courteous, always referring to him in public as President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush disputed even characterisations of their partnership as a collaboration because it implied that they were equals. Regardless of such protestations, Cheney found the laidback president malleable on a broad range of administrative determinations.
The Period Following the Attacks
In charge of a contingent of neo-conservatives that featured Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in response to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 assault, Bush had been participating in a gathering at a school in Florida. While Bush made his way to a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney took command, ordering the downing of any unidentified planes nearing the US Capitol.
Cheney claimed the attacks changed him, making him become focused on revenge. Together with other neo-cons, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a invasion of Afghanistan in an attempt to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the invasion of Iraq, even though there was little proof of Saddam Hussein having involvement.
Debated Policies
He showed no remorse about the armed intervention, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis perished, and not about the enhanced interrogation of individuals captured after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was based on misleading intelligence repeated by Cheney, was the right course of action. "It was the right thing to do at that time. I had faith then and I hold that view presently."
But even then, there were contrary opinions at a senior level about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the government's own special envoys to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the role. "I observed, at the very least," he wrote later "obvious failure, negligence, and irresponsibility: at worst, falsehoods, incompetence, and dishonesty."
Broader Context
Cheney was not solely responsible for the Iraq invasion. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for comparable steps. He had composed a document outlining situations in which US concerns might be compromised (encompassing "availability of vital raw materials, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "the US should be positioned to operate alone when joint efforts prove impossible," explicitly referencing military moves against Iraq.
Bush too had assumed the Oval Office generally inclined on carrying out what his father had specifically avoided to do in 1991; topple Saddam. Following he had been dismissed by the president, the finance chief Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the first meeting of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his plan of lowering America's engagement in the Middle East dispute and suggested armed intervention against Iraq.
Bush held a private grievance against Saddam, convinced he had been behind a conspiracy to assassinate his father, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally disliked that one of the most prominent hotels in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a image of his predecessor's face that everyone had to tread upon.
Questioning Techniques
However it was Cheney who was part of the most vociferous behind striking Iraq, frequently referencing agency briefings that were both thin or totally misleading. He supported what the Bush administration indirectly described as "enhanced interrogation", the use of waterboarding and torture.
Answering a Senate report in 2014 that found that no valuable data had been obtained through the harsh techniques, Cheney dismissed the findings as "full of crap". He told Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to take steps and create procedures to apprehend the perpetrators who took the lives of 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it was not repeated. That's exactly what they did and they merit a lot of credit."
Public Persona
Cheney enjoyed nicknames imposed on him by detractors such as the dark character and The Prince of Darkness, and by the idea that he was a shadow power directing Bush. In the author's 2013 volume about the duo, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is reported as stating: "Is it me who is the sinister strategist in the corner that remains unseen emerge from his lair? This represents a effective way to function, in fact."
Business Interests
Debate over his business interests accompanied him throughout his time as vice-president. Although he had limited background in business but established relationships in defence, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial energy corporations, in 1995 as chairman and chief executive.
In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's running mate for the White House. Contentiously, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was granted US agreements totaling multiple billions.
It significantly boosted his finances. His yearly earnings during his tenure at the company increased from his previous salary when he was military head to $4.4m. When he resigned in 2000 he had a compensation package worth more than $20m|twenty
