The deceased US vice-president Dick Cheney, who died at age 84, was seen as one of the most powerful incumbents of the vice-presidency in American history. While countless vice-presidents were limited to minor or symbolic positions, Cheney exercised huge influence during the presidency of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was frequently described as the "actual president".
Bush resented that description and said the relationship was more complex. He observed that Cheney was respectful, always referring to him in official appearances as President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush questioned even characterisations of their partnership as a partnership because it indicated that they were on equal footing. In spite of these denials, Cheney considered the relaxed president malleable on a broad range of governmental choices.
A Aftermath of 9/11
At the head of a contingent of neo-conservatives that featured defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in reaction to the September 11th attacks on New York and Washington. During of the 9/11 assault, Bush had been taking part in a gathering at a educational institution in Florida. While Bush made his way to a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney took command, commanding the shooting down of any non-communicating planes heading toward the US Capitol.
Cheney said the strikes changed him, causing him to be intent on revenge. In conjunction with other neo-conservatives, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a takeover of Afghanistan in an attempt to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then pressed fiercely for the military action of Iraq, although there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein having involvement.
Disputed Actions
He showed no remorse about the military campaign, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis died, and not about the enhanced interrogation of suspects rounded up after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was based on inaccurate information circulated by Cheney, was the correct path to take. "It proved to be the proper decision to do at that time. I had faith then and I believe it now."
But even at the time, there were opposing views at a high level about the poor management of Iraq. One of the administration's own delegates to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the position. "I observed, at the very least," he later wrote "obvious failure, negligence, and unaccountability: potentially, lying, incompetence, and dishonesty."
Additional Factors
Cheney was not entirely to blame for the Iraq campaign. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for comparable steps. He had written a memorandum setting out scenarios in which American interests might be threatened (featuring "availability of vital raw materials, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "the US should be positioned to take unilateral action when collective action prove impossible," explicitly referencing military moves against Iraq.
Bush also had assumed the presidency vaguely intent on implementing what his parent had notably declined to do in 1991; topple Saddam. Following he had been sacked by the president, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the first meeting of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his objective of lowering America's participation in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and suggested armed intervention against Iraq.
Bush bore a personal grudge against Saddam, convinced he had been involved in a plot to murder his parent, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He also objected to that one of the largest hotels in Baghdad had a ground design with a image of his predecessor's countenance that everyone had to walk over.
Questioning Techniques
However it was Cheney who was one of the most vociferous behind striking Iraq, repeatedly referencing intelligence reports that were whether insubstantial or completely deceptive. He supported what the Bush administration euphemistically referred to as "intensive questioning", the use of interrogation method and torture.
Answering a Senate document in 2014 that determined that no useful information had resulted from the interrogation methods, Cheney rejected the report as "loaded with crap". He stated to Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to implement measures and put in place procedures to capture the bastards who took the lives of 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 recognition."
External Perception
Cheney reveled in labels assigned to him by opponents such as Darth Vader and the dark figure, and by the concept that he was a shadow power controlling Bush. In Peter Baker's 2013 publication about the duo, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is reported as stating: "Am I the sinister strategist in the shadows that remains unseen leave his domain? This represents a effective way to work, in fact."
Commercial Ties
Debate over his corporate affiliations pursued him during his tenure as vice-president. Even though he had limited background in business but good contacts in military, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial energy companies, in 1995 as chairman and CEO.
In 2000 he became Bush's election partner for the executive branch. Debatably, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was granted US contracts worth billions.
It greatly increased his wealth. His yearly earnings during his period at the corporation rose from his quarter-million dollars during his time as defence secretary to millions. When he resigned in 2000 he had a severance arrangement valued at more than $20m|twenty
