The former US vice-president Dick Cheney, who passed away at age 84, was regarded as arguably the most powerful holders of the vice-presidency in the nation's history. Although many vice-presidents were limited to marginal or symbolic functions, Cheney held huge sway during the term of George W Bush, to the point that he was commonly described as the "true president".
Bush disliked such a characterisation and claimed the relationship was more complex. He pointed out that Cheney was deferential, invariably calling him in public as the President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush disputed even descriptions of their partnership as a partnership because it suggested that they were equals. Despite these denials, Cheney viewed the easygoing president accommodating on a broad range of policy decisions.
The Period Following the Attacks
At the head of a faction of conservative hawks that featured Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the military intervention of Iraq in 2003 in reaction to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. During of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been taking part in a session at a school in Florida. As Bush traveled to a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, commanding the shooting down of any unidentified airplanes nearing the Capitol building.
Cheney claimed the strikes transformed him, leading him to become focused on retaliation. Along with other conservative figures, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a occupation of Afghanistan in an attempt to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the armed intervention of Iraq, though there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Disputed Actions
He voiced no apologies about the armed intervention, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis perished, nor about the enhanced interrogation of suspects captured after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was predicated on misleading reports circulated by Cheney, was the proper path to take. "It was the right thing to do then. I had faith at the time and I believe it today."
But during that period, there were opposing views at a top tier about the poor management of Iraq. One of the government's own representatives to the Middle East, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the position. "I saw, as a baseline," he wrote later "obvious failure, negligence, and irresponsibility: at worst, lying, incompetence, and corruption."
Broader Context
Cheney was not completely to blame for the Iraq military action. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for similar measures. He had written a document setting out situations in which national priorities might be endangered (including "access to crucial commodities, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "America should be prepared to operate alone when collective action cannot be orchestrated," explicitly referencing armed actions against Iraq.
Bush too had assumed the presidency somewhat determined on carrying out what his parent had specifically avoided to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. Following he had been fired by the White House, the finance chief Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the first meeting of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had announced his intention of lowering America's participation in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and proposed defense operations against Iraq.
Bush held a personal grudge against Saddam, convinced he had been behind a scheme to kill his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally disliked that one of the largest hotels in Baghdad had a ground design with a likeness of his predecessor's countenance that each person had to tread upon.
Questioning Techniques
However it was Cheney who was among the most outspoken behind attacking Iraq, frequently referencing information documents that were whether weak or completely inaccurate. He supported what the Bush government euphemistically referred to as "intensive questioning", the employment of interrogation method and torture.
Addressing a Senate analysis in 2014 that determined that no actionable intelligence had come from the interrogation methods, Cheney disregarded the findings as "riddled with crap". He stated to Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to take steps and establish procedures to apprehend the individuals who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it would not recur. That was specifically what they did and they earn a lot of credit."
Public Image
Cheney enjoyed labels imposed on him by detractors such as the Star Wars villain and the dark figure, and by the concept that he was a dark force 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: "Do I represent the malevolent mastermind in the background that operates invisibly emerge from his lair? That is a nice way to work, in fact."
Corporate Connections
Dispute over his business interests followed him through his period as vice-president. Even though he had limited background in commerce but good contacts in military, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's largest oil and gas companies, in 1995 as chair and CEO.
In 2000 he was selected as Bush's running mate for the executive branch. Controversially, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was given US agreements worth substantial sums.
It significantly boosted his finances. His yearly earnings during his time at the firm increased from his $258,394 during his time as defence secretary to millions. When he left in 2000 he had a compensation package totaling in excess of $20m|twenty
