The deceased US vice-president Dick Cheney, who passed away at the age of 84, was seen as one of the most significant occupants of the vice-presidency in US history. Whereas many second-in-commands were confined to marginal or figurehead positions, Cheney held substantial sway during the term of George W Bush, to the point that he was commonly referred to as the "real president".
Bush objected to such a characterisation and said the relationship was more complicated. He pointed out that Cheney was courteous, invariably referring to him in public as President, while he called him as Dick. Bush questioned even characterisations of their partnership as a partnership because it suggested that they were on equal footing. Despite such protestations, Cheney viewed the laidback president pliable on a whole raft of policy decisions.
A Period Following the Attacks
In charge of a group of conservative hawks that included defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the military intervention of Iraq in 2003 in answer to the September 11th attacks on New York and Washington. When of the 9/11 assault, Bush had been participating in a meeting at a school in Florida. As Bush headed for a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, ordering the downing of any unresponsive aircraft heading toward the government building.
Cheney claimed the strikes altered his perspective, making him become intent on revenge. Together with other neo-cons, such as Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a occupation of Afghanistan in an endeavor to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the armed intervention of Iraq, although there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein having involvement.
Controversial Actions
He expressed no regrets about the invasion, in which an estimated 100,000 Iraqis perished, nor about the harsh treatment of suspects apprehended after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was based on faulty information circulated by Cheney, was the correct path to take. "It was the proper decision to do then. I believed it then and I maintain that stance now."
However even at the time, there were contrary opinions at a high level about the botched execution of Iraq. One of the government's own representatives to the Middle East, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not retained from the post. "I witnessed, at a minimum," he wrote later "true dereliction, negligence, and unaccountability: in the worst case, lying, incompetence, and corruption."
Broader Context
Cheney was not solely responsible for the Iraq military action. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for comparable steps. He had written a memo detailing situations in which American interests might be threatened (featuring "obtaining vital raw materials, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had argued that "America should be postured to take unilateral action when cooperative measures prove impossible," explicitly referencing defense operations against Iraq.
Bush additionally had entered the presidency generally inclined on implementing what his parent had specifically avoided to do in 1991; topple Saddam. After he had been sacked by the president, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill disclosed how, at the initial gathering of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had announced his intention of diminishing America's participation in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and mooted military action against Iraq.
Bush carried a private grievance against Saddam, convinced he had been behind a scheme to kill his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a trip to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore disliked that one of the biggest accommodations in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a likeness of his predecessor's face that everyone had to walk over.
Questioning Techniques
However it was Cheney who was part of the most outspoken behind invading Iraq, consistently referencing intelligence reports that were either insubstantial or entirely deceptive. He supported what the Bush administration indirectly described as "intensive questioning", the application of simulated drowning and torture.
Addressing a Senate analysis in 2014 that found that no valuable data had been obtained through the harsh techniques, Cheney disregarded the report as "full of crap". He stated to Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to establish protocols and create initiatives to capture the perpetrators who murdered 3,000 of us on 9/11 and ensure it never happened again. That was specifically what they did and they deserve a lot of praise."
Public Image
Cheney enjoyed monikers given to him by detractors such as the dark character and the dark figure, and by the concept that he was a shadow power manipulating Bush. In the journalist's 2013 volume about the two, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is reported as stating: "Do I represent the malevolent mastermind in the background that nobody ever sees come out of his lair? It's a nice way to operate, actually."
Commercial Ties
Debate over his business interests accompanied him during his tenure as second-in-command. While he had little experience in corporate affairs but established relationships in defence, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's most substantial petroleum companies, in 1995 as chairman and chief executive.
In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's running mate for the executive branch. Controversially, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was given US contracts worth substantial sums.
It made him rich. His annual income during his tenure at the corporation rose from his previous salary while defence secretary to over four million. When he resigned in 2000 he had a compensation package totaling over $20m|twenty
