The deceased US vice-president Dick Cheney, who died at the age of 84, was regarded as among the most influential occupants of the vice-presidency in US history. Although many second-in-commands were limited to peripheral or ceremonial functions, Cheney wielded substantial power during the administration of George W Bush, to the point that he was frequently referred to as the "true president".
Bush objected to such a characterisation and claimed the connection was more complicated. He observed that Cheney was respectful, always calling him in public settings as Mr President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush disputed even descriptions of their association as a team because it implied that they were equals. In spite of such protestations, Cheney considered the relaxed president pliable on a broad range of policy decisions.
A Period Following the Attacks
In charge of a group of neo-conservatives that included 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 September 11th 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 made his way to a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, directing the shooting down of any non-communicating aircraft heading toward the government building.
Cheney stated the assaults transformed him, leading him to become focused on revenge. In conjunction with other neo-cons, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a invasion of Afghanistan in an attempt to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the invasion of Iraq, though there was little proof of Saddam Hussein playing a role.
Controversial Policies
He expressed no regrets about the military campaign, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis perished, or about the enhanced interrogation of individuals captured after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was founded on faulty reports circulated by Cheney, was the proper course of action. "It was the proper decision to do back then. I had faith then and I hold that view presently."
But even then, there were contrary opinions at a high level about the botched execution of Iraq. One of the government's own delegates to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the position. "I observed, as a baseline," he wrote later "obvious failure, inaction, and unaccountability: in the worst case, falsehoods, incompetence, and graft."
Additional Factors
Cheney was not solely accountable for the Iraq invasion. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for comparable steps. He had composed a document setting out situations in which American interests might be compromised (featuring "availability of essential resources, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "America should be postured to take unilateral action when joint efforts cannot be arranged," explicitly citing military moves against Iraq.
Bush also had arrived in the presidency vaguely intent on implementing what his parent had notably declined to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. Following he had been sacked by the White House, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the first meeting of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his intention of diminishing America's engagement in the Middle East dispute and proposed defense operations against Iraq.
Bush carried a individual resentment against Saddam, thinking he had been responsible for a plot to kill his father, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He also objected to that one of the largest accommodations in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a image of his father's countenance that all visitors had to step on.
Questioning Techniques
But it was Cheney who was one of the most vehement behind striking Iraq, consistently referencing information documents that were whether insubstantial or entirely misleading. He endorsed what the Bush White House indirectly described as "intensive questioning", the use of waterboarding and physical pressure.
Responding to a Senate analysis in 2014 that concluded that no valuable data had come from the torture, Cheney disregarded the report as "loaded with crap". He stated to Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to implement measures and create procedures to capture the bastards who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it would not recur. That is precisely what they did and they deserve a lot of credit."
Public Persona
Cheney reveled in monikers given to him by opponents such as the Star Wars villain and the dark figure, and by the notion that he was a shadow power manipulating Bush. In the author's 2013 volume about the duo, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is quoted as saying: "Is it me who is the sinister strategist in the corner that operates invisibly emerge from his domain? It's a effective way to function, actually."
Corporate Connections
Controversy over his corporate affiliations followed him during his tenure as second-in-command. Even though he had limited background in corporate affairs but strong connections in military, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial energy companies, in 1995 as chair and CEO.
In 2000 he became Bush's running mate for the presidency. Controversially, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was granted US agreements worth substantial sums.
It greatly increased his wealth. His annual income during his period at the firm rose from his quarter-million dollars when he was military head to millions. When he left in 2000 he had a severance arrangement valued at over $20m|twenty
