The deceased US vice-president Dick Cheney, who died at age 84, was considered among the most significant incumbents of that office in American history. Whereas many second-in-commands were limited to peripheral or ceremonial roles, Cheney wielded huge influence during the term of George W Bush, to the point that he was frequently called as the "real president".
Bush disliked this portrayal and claimed the dynamic was more nuanced. He pointed out that Cheney was courteous, invariably calling him in public as President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush disputed even characterisations of their association as a collaboration because it indicated that they were peers. Regardless of these denials, Cheney viewed the laidback president pliable on a whole raft of governmental choices.
The Aftermath of 9/11
Leading of a contingent of neo-cons that encompassed defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the invasion of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. During of the 9/11 strike, Bush had been attending a meeting at a school in Florida. As Bush traveled to a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney took command, directing the shooting down of any non-communicating airplanes approaching the government building.
Cheney stated the assaults changed him, leading him to become focused on retaliation. In conjunction with other neo-cons, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a invasion of Afghanistan in an endeavor to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the armed intervention of Iraq, even though there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein playing a role.
Controversial Decisions
He expressed no regrets about the armed intervention, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis perished, and not about the enhanced interrogation of detainees rounded up after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was based on misleading information circulated by Cheney, was the right course of action. "It represented the proper decision to do back then. I had faith then and I hold that view now."
But even then, there were contrary opinions at a high level about the botched execution of Iraq. One of the White House's own special envoys to the Middle East, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the role. "I saw, as a baseline," he wrote later "true dereliction, negligence, and irresponsibility: potentially, lying, ineptitude, and corruption."
Additional Factors
Cheney was not completely responsible for the Iraq invasion. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for similar measures. He had drafted a document outlining circumstances in which American interests might be endangered (encompassing "obtaining essential resources, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "the US should be positioned to take unilateral action when joint efforts cannot be orchestrated," particularly mentioning armed actions against Iraq.
Bush also had assumed the presidency generally inclined on implementing what his predecessor had specifically avoided to do in 1991; topple Saddam. After he had been fired by the White House, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his intention of reducing America's engagement in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and mooted defense operations against Iraq.
Bush carried a private grievance against Saddam, thinking he had been involved in a conspiracy to kill his father, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally objected to that one of the largest hotels in Baghdad had a floor mural with a portrait of his father's countenance that everyone had to tread upon.
Questioning Techniques
Yet it was Cheney who was part of the most vociferous supporting attacking Iraq, repeatedly referencing intelligence reports that were both insubstantial or completely deceptive. He endorsed what the Bush government euphemistically referred to as "intensive questioning", the application of interrogation method and harsh treatment.
Answering a Senate document in 2014 that concluded that no useful information had come from the torture, Cheney rejected the report as "full of crap". He told Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to take steps and establish procedures to catch the perpetrators who took the lives of 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it was not repeated. That is precisely what they did and they merit a lot of praise."
Public Persona
Cheney reveled in nicknames given to him by critics such as the dark character and the dark figure, and by the notion that he was a sinister influence controlling Bush. In the journalist's 2013 publication about the two, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is quoted as saying: "Am I the evil genius in the background that nobody ever sees leave his lair? That is a effective way to work, actually."
Commercial Ties
Dispute over his business interests pursued him through his period as vice-president. While he had minimal expertise in commerce but established relationships in security, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's biggest energy conglomerates, in 1995 as chairman and chief executive.
In 2000 he became Bush's running mate for the presidency. Debatably, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was given US deals worth substantial sums.
It significantly boosted his finances. His yearly earnings during his tenure at the firm grew from his $258,394 during his time as Pentagon chief to millions. When he left in 2000 he had a package worth more than $20m|twenty
