The former US vice-president Dick Cheney, who died at the age of 84, was considered arguably the most significant holders of that office in American history. Although countless second-in-commands were limited to minor or ceremonial functions, Cheney held enormous power during the term of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was commonly referred to as the "true president".
Bush disliked such a characterisation and claimed the dynamic was more complex. He noted that Cheney was courteous, always addressing him in public settings as the President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush challenged even portrayals of their association as a partnership because it implied that they were peers. Regardless of such protestations, Cheney viewed the easygoing president pliable on a wide array of administrative determinations.
A Post-9/11 Era
Leading of a faction of conservative hawks that featured Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in response to the September 11th attacks on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been taking part in a session at a educational institution in Florida. Whereas Bush traveled to a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney took command, commanding the downing of any non-communicating planes heading toward the Capitol building.
Cheney stated the strikes altered his perspective, causing him to be intent on retribution. Together with other neo-cons, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a invasion of Afghanistan in an endeavor to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the military action of Iraq, though there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein playing a role.
Debated Decisions
He showed no remorse about the invasion, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis died, or about the waterboarding of suspects apprehended after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was founded on inaccurate intelligence echoed by Cheney, was the right path to take. "It represented the proper decision to do at that time. I believed it then and I believe it now."
But during that period, there were dissenting voices at a senior level about the botched execution of Iraq. One of the White House's own special envoys to the Middle East, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the role. "I observed, at a minimum," he wrote later "obvious failure, carelessness, and irresponsibility: potentially, deception, ineptitude, and dishonesty."
Broader Context
Cheney was not completely to blame for the Iraq campaign. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for such action. He had written a memo detailing situations in which American interests might be endangered (including "access to crucial commodities, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "the United States should be postured to operate alone when collective action prove impossible," explicitly citing military moves against Iraq.
Bush additionally had assumed the Oval Office somewhat determined on implementing what his father had notably declined to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. Subsequent to he had been sacked by the administration, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the first meeting of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his objective of lowering America's participation in the regional tensions and proposed military action against Iraq.
Bush bore a individual resentment against Saddam, convinced he had been behind a conspiracy to assassinate his parent, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He also disliked that one of the most prominent accommodations in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a portrait of his parent's face that all visitors had to tread upon.
Investigation Approaches
But it was Cheney who was part of the most vociferous behind attacking Iraq, repeatedly citing agency briefings that were either weak or totally misleading. He backed what the Bush administration euphemistically referred to as "enhanced interrogation", the use of interrogation method and harsh treatment.
Responding to a Senate document in 2014 that found that no actionable intelligence had been obtained through the torture, Cheney dismissed the conclusions as "full of crap". He stated to Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to take steps and put in place procedures to apprehend the perpetrators who took the lives of 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it never happened again. That is precisely what they did and they earn a lot of recognition."
External Perception
Cheney enjoyed monikers given to him by opponents such as the Star Wars villain and the dark figure, and by the concept that he was a shadow power directing Bush. In Peter Baker's 2013 publication about the duo, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is reported as stating: "Is it me who is the malevolent mastermind in the corner that operates invisibly emerge from his lair? This represents a effective way to operate, in fact."
Corporate Connections
Controversy over his business interests followed him throughout his time as vice-president. Although he had little experience in business but established relationships in military, notably in Saudi Arabia, he was offered a position at Halliburton, one of the world's biggest oil and gas companies, in 1995 as chair and chief executive.
In 2000 he became Bush's election partner for the presidency. Controversially, during the military campaign, Halliburton was awarded US agreements totaling multiple billions.
It made him rich. His yearly earnings during his tenure at the corporation grew from his quarter-million dollars while defence secretary to millions. When he departed in 2000 he had a package worth over $20m|twenty
