The late US vice-president Dick Cheney, who passed away at the age of 84, was considered one of the most influential occupants of that office in American history. Although numerous second-in-commands had to settle for minor or symbolic roles, Cheney held huge influence during the administration of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was commonly called as the "real president".
Bush objected to this portrayal and stated the relationship was more complex. He noted that Cheney was respectful, always addressing him in official appearances as President, while he called him as Dick. Bush questioned even descriptions of their relationship as a team because it suggested that they were equals. Despite these denials, Cheney found the relaxed president accommodating on a broad range of administrative determinations.
The Aftermath of 9/11
At the head of a contingent of conservative hawks that encompassed military head Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he strongly advocated the invasion of Iraq in 2003 in response to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 strike, Bush had been taking part in a meeting at a school in Florida. As Bush headed for a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, ordering the destruction of any non-communicating airplanes nearing the Capitol building.
Cheney claimed the attacks transformed him, leading him to become intent on retaliation. Together with other neo-conservatives, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a occupation of Afghanistan in an effort to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the invasion of Iraq, although there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein playing a role.
Controversial Decisions
He expressed no regrets about the armed intervention, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis died, and not about the harsh treatment of suspects rounded up after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was predicated on inaccurate information circulated by Cheney, was the right decision. "It proved to be the proper decision to do then. I believed it back then and I maintain that stance today."
Yet even at the time, there were opposing views at a senior level about the poor management of Iraq. One of the government's own representatives to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the position. "I observed, at a minimum," he wrote later "obvious failure, carelessness, and recklessness: in the worst case, falsehoods, incompetence, and graft."
Broader Context
Cheney was not completely responsible for the Iraq campaign. Prior to 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for such action. He had written a memo detailing circumstances in which American interests might be endangered (including "obtaining crucial commodities, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "the United States should be postured to take unilateral action when cooperative measures cannot be arranged," explicitly citing military moves against Iraq.
Bush too had entered the Oval Office somewhat determined on executing what his father had notably declined to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. Subsequent to he had been dismissed by the president, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his plan of diminishing America's engagement in the regional tensions and mooted armed intervention against Iraq.
Bush bore a personal grudge against Saddam, thinking he had been responsible for a scheme to kill his father, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally disliked that one of the biggest accommodations in Baghdad had a ground design with a image of his predecessor's face that everyone had to walk over.
Questioning Techniques
But it was Cheney who was part of the most vociferous advocating invading Iraq, consistently quoting agency briefings that were both thin or totally inaccurate. He backed what the Bush administration indirectly described as "advanced techniques", the employment of waterboarding and torture.
Addressing a Senate document in 2014 that concluded that no valuable data had been obtained through the interrogation methods, Cheney dismissed 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 perpetrators who took the lives of 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it never happened again. That is precisely what they did and they earn a lot of recognition."
Public Persona
Cheney took pleasure in labels given to him by critics such as Darth Vader and the sinister presence, and by the idea that he was a dark force manipulating Bush. In the journalist's 2013 publication about the two, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is reported as stating: "Is it me who is the sinister strategist in the corner that operates invisibly emerge from his hole? It's a nice way to work, in fact."
Corporate Connections
Dispute over his corporate affiliations accompanied him through his period as second-in-command. Although he had little experience in corporate affairs but strong connections in military, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's largest petroleum conglomerates, in 1995 as chairman and chief executive.
In 2000 he was selected as Bush's election partner for the executive branch. Controversially, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was awarded US agreements valued at billions.
It significantly boosted his finances. His annual income during his period at the company increased from his $258,394 when he was military head to millions. When he departed in 2000 he had a package valued at more than $20m|twenty
