The late US VP Dick Cheney, who died at age 84, was considered one of the most influential occupants of the vice-presidency in American history. Whereas countless second-in-commands were limited to marginal or symbolic roles, Cheney exercised substantial influence during the presidency of George W Bush, to the point that he was commonly called as the "true president".
Bush disliked this portrayal and said the connection was more complicated. He observed that Cheney was respectful, consistently referring to him in public settings as the President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush questioned even characterisations of their association as a team because it implied that they were peers. Regardless of these denials, Cheney found the laidback president malleable on a broad range of governmental choices.
A Period Following the Attacks
In charge of a faction of neo-conservatives that encompassed defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the invasion 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 made his way to a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, directing the downing of any non-communicating airplanes approaching the US Capitol.
Cheney stated the strikes transformed him, leading him to become focused on revenge. In conjunction with other neo-conservatives, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a occupation of Afghanistan in an attempt to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the armed intervention of Iraq, even though there was little proof of Saddam Hussein playing a role.
Controversial Decisions
He voiced no apologies about the military campaign, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis perished, or about the waterboarding of detainees apprehended after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was based on inaccurate intelligence echoed by Cheney, was the proper path to take. "It proved to be the proper decision to do back then. I believed it then and I believe it presently."
Yet even at the time, there were contrary opinions at a top tier about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the White House's own representatives to the region, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the post. "I observed, at a minimum," he subsequently stated "clear negligence, inaction, and unaccountability: potentially, lying, unfitness, and dishonesty."
Broader Context
Cheney was not entirely responsible for the Iraq invasion. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for such action. He had composed a document setting out situations in which national priorities might be compromised (including "availability of crucial commodities, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "America should be prepared to act independently when joint efforts cannot be arranged," explicitly citing armed actions against Iraq.
Bush also had assumed the White House generally inclined on implementing what his father had specifically avoided to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. Subsequent to he had been sacked by the administration, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the first meeting of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had announced his plan of lowering America's engagement in the regional tensions and suggested armed intervention against Iraq.
Bush held a private grievance against Saddam, thinking he had been responsible for a conspiracy to assassinate his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore resented that one of the largest hotels in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a image of his parent's face that all visitors had to walk over.
Questioning Techniques
However it was Cheney who was one of the most outspoken behind striking Iraq, frequently referencing information documents that were both weak or totally misleading. He backed what the Bush White House politely called as "advanced techniques", the application of waterboarding and physical pressure.
Responding to a Senate document in 2014 that found that no actionable intelligence had come from the interrogation methods, Cheney rejected the findings as "loaded with crap". He told Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to take steps and put in place programmes to catch the perpetrators who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it would not recur. That's exactly what they did and they merit a lot of praise."
Public Image
Cheney took pleasure in monikers assigned to him by detractors such as the dark character and The Prince of Darkness, and by the notion that he was a sinister influence manipulating Bush. In the journalist's 2013 book about the pair, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is cited as commenting: "Is it me who is the sinister strategist in the corner that nobody ever sees emerge from his domain? That is a effective way to function, in fact."
Commercial Ties
Controversy over his corporate affiliations accompanied him during his tenure as VP. While he had little experience in commerce but strong connections in military, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's biggest oil and gas corporations, in 1995 as leader and CEO.
In 2000 he became Bush's VP candidate for the White House. Controversially, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was awarded US agreements totaling multiple billions.
It greatly increased his wealth. His yearly earnings during his period at the firm increased from his $258,394 during his time as Pentagon chief to $4.4m. When he resigned in 2000 he had a package valued at in excess of $20m|twenty
