The former US vice-president Dick Cheney, who died at age 84, was considered one of the most influential holders of that office in US history. Whereas many second-in-commands were limited to marginal or ceremonial positions, Cheney exercised huge power during the administration of George W Bush, to the point that he was often described as the "actual president".
Bush objected to such a characterisation and claimed the relationship was more complicated. He observed that Cheney was deferential, consistently calling him in public settings as President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush questioned even characterisations of their association as a collaboration because it indicated that they were on equal footing. Regardless of such protestations, Cheney found the easygoing president malleable on a wide array of policy decisions.
A Period Following the Attacks
Leading of a group of conservative hawks that encompassed Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the invasion 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 taking part in a meeting at a school in Florida. While Bush made his way to a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, ordering the downing of any unidentified aircraft heading toward the government building.
Cheney claimed the attacks changed him, making him become focused on retribution. Together with other neo-conservatives, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a takeover of Afghanistan in an endeavor to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the armed intervention of Iraq, although there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Disputed Decisions
He voiced no apologies about the military campaign, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis perished, and not about the enhanced interrogation of detainees apprehended after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was based on inaccurate reports repeated by Cheney, was the right decision. "It proved to be the proper decision to do back then. I had faith then and I maintain that stance today."
However even at the time, there were opposing views at a top tier about the poor management of Iraq. One of the White House's own representatives to the Middle East, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the role. "I witnessed, as a baseline," he subsequently stated "clear negligence, inaction, and unaccountability: in the worst case, falsehoods, incompetence, and dishonesty."
Additional Factors
Cheney was not completely responsible for the Iraq campaign. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for comparable steps. He had composed a memo setting out situations in which American interests might be endangered (featuring "access to vital raw materials, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "America should be prepared to act independently when collective action cannot be arranged," specifically referencing defense operations against Iraq.
Bush too had arrived in the White House vaguely intent on implementing what his predecessor had notably declined to do in 1991; topple Saddam. Following he had been dismissed by the White House, the finance chief Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his objective of lowering America's participation in the regional tensions and suggested armed intervention against Iraq.
Bush carried a personal grudge against Saddam, thinking he had been responsible for a scheme to murder his father, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He also disliked that one of the largest accommodations in Baghdad had a floor mural with a portrait of his father's face that everyone had to tread upon.
Interrogation Methods
However it was Cheney who was one of the most outspoken behind striking Iraq, repeatedly referencing intelligence reports that were whether thin or entirely misleading. He endorsed what the Bush government indirectly described as "intensive questioning", the employment of interrogation method and physical pressure.
Responding to a Senate document in 2014 that determined that no useful information had resulted from the interrogation methods, Cheney disregarded the conclusions as "loaded with crap". He stated to Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to establish protocols and create programmes to apprehend the bastards who murdered 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 recognition."
Public Persona
Cheney reveled in monikers given to him by critics such as Darth Vader and the sinister presence, and by the idea that he was a shadow power controlling Bush. In the author's 2013 publication about the two, 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 shadows that operates invisibly emerge from his lair? It's a effective way to work, actually."
Business Interests
Controversy over his commercial relationships pursued him during his tenure as second-in-command. Although he had minimal expertise in business but good contacts in security, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial petroleum companies, in 1995 as chair and chief executive.
In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's running mate for the executive branch. Contentiously, during the military campaign, Halliburton was given US contracts valued at billions.
It significantly boosted his finances. His yearly earnings during his tenure at the company increased from his previous salary when he was defence secretary to $4.4m. When he resigned in 2000 he had a severance arrangement totaling more than $20m|twenty
