The former US vice-president Dick Cheney, who died at age 84, was regarded as arguably the most powerful incumbents of the vice-presidency in American history. While many second-in-commands were confined to marginal or ceremonial roles, Cheney held huge power during the presidency of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was commonly described as the "real president".
Bush resented such a characterisation and claimed the dynamic was more complex. He pointed out that Cheney was deferential, invariably referring to him in official appearances as President, while he called him as Dick. Bush disputed even characterisations of their relationship as a collaboration because it suggested that they were equals. In spite of these objections, Cheney considered the easygoing president pliable on a wide array of administrative determinations.
A Aftermath of 9/11
Leading of a contingent of neo-cons that included defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in reaction to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. At the time of the 9/11 assault, Bush had been participating in a meeting at a school in Florida. Whereas Bush traveled to a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, commanding the downing of any unidentified planes heading toward the government building.
Cheney stated the strikes transformed him, leading him to become determined on retribution. Together with other neo-conservatives, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a takeover of Afghanistan in an endeavor to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the military action of Iraq, although there was little proof of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Controversial Actions
He showed no remorse about the invasion, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis perished, and not about the waterboarding of detainees captured after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was founded on inaccurate information repeated by Cheney, was the correct decision. "It was the proper decision to do at that time. I believed it 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 government's own special envoys to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the post. "I witnessed, at a minimum," he later wrote "clear negligence, negligence, and irresponsibility: potentially, deception, unfitness, and dishonesty."
Additional Factors
Cheney was not entirely to blame for the Iraq military action. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for comparable steps. He had written a memorandum setting out scenarios in which American interests might be endangered (encompassing "availability of crucial commodities, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "the United States should be prepared to operate alone when joint efforts prove impossible," specifically mentioning defense operations against Iraq.
Bush also had assumed the presidency somewhat determined on executing what his predecessor had notably declined to do in 1991; topple Saddam. Following he had been sacked by the president, the finance chief Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had announced his objective of diminishing America's participation in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and suggested armed intervention against Iraq.
Bush held a private grievance against Saddam, believing he had been responsible for a conspiracy to assassinate his father, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He also objected to that one of the largest establishments in Baghdad had a floor mural with a portrait of his parent's visage that all visitors had to step on.
Investigation Approaches
Yet it was Cheney who was one of the most vehement supporting striking Iraq, frequently referencing intelligence reports that were both thin or totally inaccurate. He supported what the Bush White House euphemistically referred to as "intensive questioning", the employment of waterboarding and torture.
Answering a Senate report in 2014 that found that no actionable intelligence had resulted from the interrogation methods, Cheney dismissed the findings as "riddled with crap". He informed Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to implement measures and put in place programmes to catch the individuals who took the lives of 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it was not repeated. That is precisely what they did and they earn a lot of recognition."
External Perception
Cheney enjoyed nicknames assigned to him by detractors such as the Star Wars villain and the dark figure, and by the notion that he was a shadow power manipulating Bush. In Peter Baker's 2013 publication about the duo, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is quoted as saying: "Do I represent the evil genius in the background that operates invisibly come out of his lair? This represents a effective way to operate, actually."
Corporate Connections
Debate over his corporate affiliations followed him during his tenure as second-in-command. Although he had limited background in commerce but strong connections in security, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial oil and gas companies, in 1995 as chairman and chief executive.
In 2000 he became Bush's VP candidate for the executive branch. Debatably, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was given US agreements valued at multiple billions.
It significantly boosted his finances. His yearly compensation during his tenure at the firm increased from his quarter-million dollars during his time as defence secretary to $4.4m. When he departed in 2000 he had a compensation package worth over $20m|twenty
