The late US vice-president Dick Cheney, who passed away at age 84, was regarded as among the most influential holders of the vice-presidency in US history. Although many second-in-commands were confined to peripheral or figurehead positions, Cheney wielded enormous influence during the presidency of George W Bush, so much so that he was frequently described as the "actual president".
Bush objected to that description and claimed the connection was more nuanced. He pointed out that Cheney was courteous, always calling him in official appearances as the President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush challenged even descriptions of their relationship as a collaboration because it implied that they were equals. In spite of such protestations, Cheney found the relaxed president accommodating on a wide array of governmental choices.
The Period Following the Attacks
At the head of a group of conservative hawks that encompassed Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in reaction to the 9/11 attacks on New York and Washington. At the time of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been participating in a meeting at a educational institution in Florida. Whereas Bush made his way to a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney took command, directing the destruction of any non-communicating airplanes nearing the government building.
Cheney said the assaults transformed him, leading him to become focused on retaliation. Along with other neo-cons, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a takeover of Afghanistan in an attempt to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the military action of Iraq, though there was little proof of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Controversial Policies
He expressed no regrets about the invasion, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, nor about the harsh treatment of suspects captured after 9/11. He stated to CNN in 2015 that the Iraq military action, which was based on inaccurate reports circulated by Cheney, was the correct path to take. "It was the right thing to do back then. I believed it at the time and I hold that view now."
Yet even at the time, there were opposing views at a high level about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the administration's own special envoys to the Middle East, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the position. "I observed, as a baseline," he later wrote "clear negligence, inaction, and irresponsibility: potentially, lying, ineptitude, and corruption."
Additional Factors
Cheney was not completely to blame for the Iraq invasion. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for such action. He had drafted a memorandum detailing circumstances in which US concerns might be threatened (encompassing "access to essential resources, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "America should be prepared to take unilateral action when cooperative measures cannot be arranged," particularly referencing defense operations against Iraq.
Bush additionally had arrived in the White House somewhat determined on implementing what his parent had famously refused to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. After he had been dismissed by the president, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill disclosed how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had stated his objective of reducing America's participation in the Middle East dispute and mooted military action against Iraq.
Bush bore a personal grudge against Saddam, believing he had been behind a conspiracy to kill his parent, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He also resented that one of the biggest establishments in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a portrait of his predecessor's countenance that all visitors had to step on.
Interrogation Methods
But it was Cheney who was among the most outspoken advocating attacking Iraq, frequently referencing agency briefings that were either insubstantial or completely inaccurate. He backed what the Bush government indirectly described as "advanced techniques", the application of interrogation method and torture.
Responding to a Senate report in 2014 that found that no actionable intelligence had resulted from the torture, Cheney dismissed the report as "full of crap". He told Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to establish protocols and put in place initiatives to capture the individuals who took the lives of 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it was not repeated. That is precisely what they did and they deserve a lot of praise."
External Perception
Cheney took pleasure in labels assigned to him by detractors such as Darth Vader and the dark figure, and by the concept that he was a shadow power directing Bush. In the author's 2013 publication about the pair, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is quoted as saying: "Do I represent the malevolent mastermind in the corner that remains unseen emerge from his lair? That is a effective way to function, truthfully."
Commercial Ties
Controversy over his business interests pursued him throughout his time as vice-president. While he had minimal expertise in business but established relationships in defence, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's biggest energy corporations, in 1995 as chair and top executive.
In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's running mate for the executive branch. Controversially, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was awarded US agreements totaling multiple billions.
It made him rich. His yearly compensation during his period at the corporation rose from his $258,394 during his time as defence secretary to over four million. When he departed in 2000 he had a package totaling more than $20m|twenty
