The deceased US VP Dick Cheney, who died at age 84, was regarded as among the most powerful holders of that position in American history. Whereas countless second-in-commands had to settle for peripheral or symbolic roles, Cheney exercised enormous sway during the administration of George W Bush, so much so that he was commonly called as the "actual president".
Bush objected to that description and stated the dynamic was more complicated. He pointed out that Cheney was deferential, always calling him in official appearances as Mr President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush challenged even characterisations of their association as a partnership because it suggested that they were on equal footing. Regardless of such protestations, Cheney considered the laidback president malleable on a whole raft of governmental choices.
The Period Following the Attacks
At the head of a contingent of neo-conservatives that included defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the military intervention of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. During of the 9/11 assault, Bush had been attending a meeting at a elementary school in Florida. As Bush traveled to a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, directing the downing of any unidentified planes approaching the US Capitol.
Cheney claimed the attacks altered his perspective, leading him to become intent on retaliation. In conjunction with other neo-conservatives, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a invasion of Afghanistan in an attempt to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then pressed fiercely for the military action of Iraq, even though there was little proof of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Debated Actions
He expressed no regrets about the invasion, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, nor about the enhanced interrogation of individuals captured after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was founded on inaccurate information repeated by Cheney, was the right decision. "It represented the right thing to do then. I was convinced back then and I hold that view now."
Yet even at the time, there were opposing views at a senior level about the botched execution of Iraq. One of the administration's own representatives to the Middle East, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the post. "I observed, as a baseline," he later wrote "true dereliction, carelessness, and irresponsibility: at worst, lying, incompetence, and corruption."
Additional Factors
Cheney was not entirely to blame for the Iraq invasion. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for comparable steps. He had composed a document outlining scenarios in which US concerns might be endangered (including "access to vital raw materials, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "America should be prepared to take unilateral action when joint efforts cannot be arranged," particularly referencing military moves against Iraq.
Bush too had arrived in the presidency somewhat determined on executing what his parent had specifically avoided to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. Following he had been dismissed 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 announced his intention of diminishing America's involvement in the regional tensions and mooted defense operations against Iraq.
Bush bore a private grievance against Saddam, thinking he had been behind a scheme to assassinate his parent, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally objected to that one of the most prominent accommodations in Baghdad had a floor mural with a likeness of his predecessor's countenance that each person had to tread upon.
Interrogation Methods
But it was Cheney who was part of the most vehement advocating striking Iraq, frequently quoting agency briefings that were both weak or totally inaccurate. He endorsed what the Bush White House euphemistically referred to as "intensive questioning", the use of simulated drowning and physical pressure.
Addressing a Senate report in 2014 that determined that no actionable intelligence had resulted from the harsh techniques, Cheney disregarded the findings as "full of crap". He informed Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to take steps and create initiatives to capture the perpetrators who took the lives of 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it never happened again. That was specifically what they did and they deserve a lot of recognition."
Public Persona
Cheney took pleasure in monikers imposed on him by detractors such as the dark character and the sinister presence, and by the idea that he was a shadow power manipulating 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: "Am I the sinister strategist in the background that remains unseen emerge from his domain? This represents a advantageous way to function, in fact."
Commercial Ties
Debate over his corporate affiliations accompanied him during his tenure as VP. Although he had limited background in corporate affairs but established relationships in defence, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's biggest energy corporations, in 1995 as leader and top executive.
In 2000 he was selected as Bush's VP candidate for the White House. Controversially, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was given US agreements worth multiple billions.
It significantly boosted his finances. His yearly compensation during his time at the firm grew from his quarter-million dollars while defence secretary to over four million. When he resigned in 2000 he had a compensation package totaling over $20m|twenty
