The late US vice-president Dick Cheney, who died at the age of 84, was regarded as among the most influential holders of that position in the nation's history. While many second-in-commands were limited to marginal or figurehead positions, Cheney wielded substantial power during the presidency of George W Bush, so much so that he was commonly called as the "actual president".
Bush disliked that description and said the connection was more complicated. He noted that Cheney was respectful, invariably referring to him in public settings as the President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush challenged even portrayals of their association as a team because it implied that they were equals. In spite of such protestations, Cheney viewed the relaxed president pliable on a whole raft of policy decisions.
The Period Following the Attacks
In charge of a faction of conservative hawks that included military head Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the invasion of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the September 11th attacks on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 assault, Bush had been attending a meeting at a elementary school in Florida. Whereas Bush made his way to a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, commanding the destruction of any unresponsive aircraft nearing the Capitol building.
Cheney stated the strikes changed him, causing him to be determined on retribution. In conjunction with other neo-cons, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a occupation of Afghanistan in an effort to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then pressed fiercely for the armed intervention of Iraq, although there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein playing a role.
Disputed Policies
He showed no remorse about the armed intervention, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis perished, or about the harsh treatment of suspects captured after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was based on inaccurate information repeated by Cheney, was the correct path to take. "It was the right thing to do at that time. I was convinced at the time and I hold that view today."
However during that period, there were contrary opinions 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 role. "I saw, as a baseline," he subsequently stated "true dereliction, inaction, and recklessness: potentially, falsehoods, incompetence, and corruption."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not completely to blame for the Iraq military action. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for similar measures. He had drafted a document setting out scenarios in which US concerns might be compromised (encompassing "obtaining essential resources, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "the United States should be prepared to take unilateral action when cooperative measures cannot be arranged," explicitly referencing military moves against Iraq.
Bush also had arrived in the Oval Office vaguely intent on carrying out what his predecessor had specifically avoided to do in 1991; topple Saddam. Subsequent to he had been sacked by the administration, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the first meeting of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his plan of lowering America's engagement in the Middle East dispute and mooted military action against Iraq.
Bush held a private grievance against Saddam, believing he had been responsible for a plot to assassinate his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore objected to that one of the largest establishments in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a likeness of his father's face that all visitors had to walk over.
Interrogation Methods
But it was Cheney who was part of the most outspoken behind invading Iraq, frequently quoting agency briefings that were whether thin or entirely inaccurate. He supported what the Bush administration indirectly described as "intensive questioning", the employment of interrogation method and harsh treatment.
Answering a Senate report in 2014 that concluded that no useful information had come from the harsh techniques, Cheney disregarded the report as "loaded with crap". He stated to Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to take steps and establish programmes to apprehend the bastards who took the lives of 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it never happened again. That's exactly what they did and they deserve a lot of praise."
Public Persona
Cheney enjoyed labels assigned to him by detractors such as the dark character and The Prince of Darkness, and by the notion that he was a shadow power manipulating Bush. In the author's 2013 publication about the pair, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is quoted as saying: "Am I the sinister strategist in the corner that nobody ever sees emerge from his lair? It's a advantageous way to function, actually."
Corporate Connections
Dispute over his corporate affiliations accompanied him during his tenure as second-in-command. Although he had limited background in business but strong connections in military, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's largest energy companies, in 1995 as chairman and top executive.
In 2000 he became Bush's election partner for the executive branch. Controversially, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was awarded US deals valued at billions.
It significantly boosted his finances. His annual income during his time at the corporation increased from his $258,394 during his time as Pentagon chief to $4.4m. When he left in 2000 he had a severance arrangement worth in excess of $20m|twenty
