The former US vice-president Dick Cheney, who died at age 84, was seen as one of the most influential occupants of that position in American history. Whereas many VPs were limited to peripheral or figurehead positions, Cheney wielded substantial sway during the presidency of George W Bush, so much so that he was commonly referred to as the "real president".
Bush objected to this portrayal and said the connection was more complicated. He noted that Cheney was deferential, consistently referring to him in public as Mr President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush questioned even characterisations of their relationship as a partnership because it implied that they were equals. Regardless of such protestations, Cheney viewed the laidback president accommodating on a broad range of administrative determinations.
A Period Following the Attacks
At the head of a faction of conservative hawks that featured military head Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the military intervention of Iraq in 2003 in response to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 assault, Bush had been participating in a session at a educational institution in Florida. While Bush headed for a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney took command, commanding the destruction of any unresponsive planes approaching the US Capitol.
Cheney said the attacks transformed him, causing him to be focused on retribution. Together with other conservative figures, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a invasion of Afghanistan in an effort to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the military action of Iraq, though there was little proof of Saddam Hussein playing a role.
Controversial Decisions
He voiced no apologies about the invasion, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis died, or about the enhanced interrogation of detainees captured after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was founded on inaccurate information circulated by Cheney, was the correct course of action. "It proved to be the correct action to do back then. I was convinced back then and I hold that view presently."
Yet during that period, there were dissenting voices at a high level about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the administration's own delegates to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the post. "I saw, at the very least," he subsequently stated "obvious failure, negligence, and unaccountability: potentially, lying, unfitness, and dishonesty."
Wider Perspective
Cheney was not solely accountable for the Iraq campaign. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for such action. He had composed a document outlining circumstances in which national priorities might be compromised (featuring "access to essential resources, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "the US should be prepared to take unilateral action when cooperative measures cannot be arranged," specifically mentioning military moves against Iraq.
Bush too had arrived in the White House generally inclined on carrying out what his parent had famously refused to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. Following he had been sacked by the administration, the finance chief Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had announced his plan of lowering America's involvement in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and mooted military action against Iraq.
Bush held a private grievance against Saddam, convinced he had been involved in a scheme to murder his parent, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally resented that one of the biggest hotels in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a portrait of his parent's visage that everyone had to tread upon.
Questioning Techniques
However it was Cheney who was among the most vehement behind striking Iraq, consistently referencing agency briefings that were either thin or totally inaccurate. He endorsed what the Bush government indirectly described as "intensive questioning", the employment of interrogation method and torture.
Answering a Senate document in 2014 that determined that no actionable intelligence had come from the torture, Cheney disregarded the conclusions as "full of crap". He informed Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to take steps and establish procedures to apprehend the individuals who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and make sure it was not repeated. That was specifically what they did and they merit a lot of credit."
Public Persona
Cheney took pleasure in monikers given to him by opponents such as the dark character and the dark figure, and by the concept that he was a sinister influence manipulating Bush. In the journalist's 2013 book about the duo, 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 remains unseen emerge from his domain? This represents a advantageous way to operate, in fact."
Commercial Ties
Dispute over his commercial relationships pursued him through his period as VP. Even though he had little experience in business but established relationships in military, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial petroleum conglomerates, in 1995 as chair and CEO.
In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's election partner for the White House. Debatably, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was given US contracts totaling substantial sums.
It significantly boosted his finances. His yearly compensation during his tenure at the firm rose from his previous salary during his time as defence secretary to $4.4m. When he left in 2000 he had a package worth in excess of $20m|twenty
