The late US vice-president Dick Cheney, who passed away at the age of 84, was regarded as one of the most significant incumbents of the vice-presidency in the nation's history. While many second-in-commands were limited to minor or ceremonial positions, Cheney exercised substantial power during the term of George W Bush, so much so that he was frequently referred to as the "actual president".
Bush objected to such a characterisation and said the relationship was more nuanced. He pointed out that Cheney was respectful, consistently addressing him in public settings as the President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush disputed even descriptions of their partnership as a team because it implied that they were equals. Regardless of these objections, Cheney found the laidback president pliable on a broad range of administrative determinations.
A Period Following the Attacks
Leading of a contingent of conservative hawks that encompassed defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the armed incursion 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 educational institution in Florida. As Bush headed for a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, commanding the downing of any unresponsive planes nearing the Capitol building.
Cheney claimed the assaults changed him, causing him to be focused on revenge. In conjunction with other neo-cons, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a takeover of Afghanistan in an attempt to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the armed intervention of Iraq, although there was no evidence of Saddam Hussein having involvement.
Debated Decisions
He expressed no regrets about the invasion, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis perished, nor about the enhanced interrogation of detainees captured after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was based on inaccurate intelligence repeated by Cheney, was the correct decision. "It represented the correct action to do at that time. I had faith at the time and I hold that view today."
However even then, there were opposing views at a high level about the botched execution of Iraq. One of the administration's own representatives to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the post. "I saw, at the very least," he later wrote "clear negligence, inaction, and unaccountability: potentially, falsehoods, unfitness, and corruption."
Broader Context
Cheney was not solely to blame for the Iraq campaign. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for such action. He had composed a memo outlining circumstances in which national priorities might be threatened (featuring "obtaining vital raw materials, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "the US should be postured to act independently when joint efforts cannot be arranged," explicitly citing defense operations against Iraq.
Bush also had assumed the Oval Office somewhat determined on implementing what his parent had famously refused to do in 1991; topple Saddam. Subsequent to he had been dismissed by the administration, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his objective of lowering America's participation in the Middle East dispute and proposed armed intervention against Iraq.
Bush carried a individual resentment against Saddam, thinking he had been behind a scheme to murder his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally objected to that one of the most prominent accommodations in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a portrait of his predecessor's countenance that everyone had to tread upon.
Questioning Techniques
However it was Cheney who was among the most vociferous supporting striking Iraq, consistently quoting information documents that were both thin or entirely misleading. He supported what the Bush administration euphemistically referred to as "advanced techniques", the application of waterboarding and physical pressure.
Addressing a Senate document in 2014 that found that no useful information had been obtained through the harsh techniques, Cheney disregarded the findings as "full of crap". He stated to Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to implement measures and put in place programmes to capture the bastards who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it was not repeated. That's exactly what they did and they earn a lot of recognition."
Public Image
Cheney took pleasure in monikers assigned to him by opponents such as Darth Vader and The Prince of Darkness, and by the notion that he was a dark force directing Bush. In the journalist's 2013 volume about the pair, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is reported as stating: "Do I represent the sinister strategist in the shadows that remains unseen emerge from his lair? It's a effective way to operate, in fact."
Commercial Ties
Debate over his business interests followed him during his tenure as VP. While he had minimal expertise in commerce but good contacts in military, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's largest oil and gas conglomerates, in 1995 as chairman and top executive.
In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's VP candidate for the presidency. Controversially, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was granted US agreements worth substantial sums.
It significantly boosted his finances. His annual income during his time at the company increased from his previous salary when he was military head to millions. When he departed in 2000 he had a compensation package totaling more than $20m|twenty
