The former US VP Dick Cheney, who died at the age of 84, was considered among the most influential incumbents of that position in American history. Although many second-in-commands were limited to peripheral or symbolic roles, Cheney exercised huge sway during the term of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was commonly referred to as the "actual president".
Bush objected to that description and stated the dynamic was more complex. He noted that Cheney was respectful, invariably calling him in official appearances as President, while he addressed him as Dick. Bush disputed even descriptions of their relationship as a partnership because it indicated that they were peers. Despite these objections, Cheney viewed the easygoing president malleable on a wide array of policy decisions.
The Period Following the Attacks
In charge of a contingent of conservative hawks that encompassed defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the armed incursion of Iraq in 2003 in reaction to the terrorist strikes on New York and Washington. At the time of the 9/11 assault, Bush had been taking part in a gathering at a educational institution in Florida. As Bush traveled to a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney took command, ordering the destruction of any non-communicating aircraft heading toward the Capitol building.
Cheney stated the assaults altered his perspective, making him become determined on retaliation. Along with other neo-conservatives, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he lobbied for a invasion of Afghanistan in an endeavor to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then pressed fiercely for the military action of Iraq, though there was little proof of Saddam Hussein playing a role.
Debated Actions
He expressed no regrets about the invasion, in which an approximated 100,000 Iraqis died, and not about the waterboarding of individuals captured after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was based on inaccurate intelligence echoed by Cheney, was the proper decision. "It represented the correct action to do then. I had faith back then and I hold that view presently."
But during that period, there were opposing views at a top tier about the botched execution of Iraq. One of the government's own special envoys to the Middle East, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the post. "I observed, as a baseline," he later wrote "clear negligence, negligence, and irresponsibility: at worst, lying, ineptitude, and corruption."
Additional Factors
Cheney was not solely responsible for the Iraq invasion. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for similar measures. He had written a memo outlining scenarios in which national priorities might be threatened (including "availability of crucial commodities, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had contended that "the US should be prepared to take unilateral action when collective action prove impossible," particularly mentioning defense operations against Iraq.
Bush additionally had arrived in the White House generally inclined on implementing what his predecessor had specifically avoided to do in 1991; topple Saddam. After he had been dismissed by the administration, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill disclosed how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his intention of lowering America's participation in the regional tensions and proposed armed intervention against Iraq.
Bush bore a private grievance against Saddam, thinking he had been behind a scheme to assassinate his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally disliked that one of the most prominent establishments in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a likeness of his predecessor's face that everyone had to step on.
Questioning Techniques
Yet it was Cheney who was among the most vociferous advocating striking Iraq, consistently quoting agency briefings that were whether weak or completely deceptive. He backed what the Bush White House indirectly described as "advanced techniques", the use of simulated drowning and harsh treatment.
Addressing a Senate document in 2014 that found that no useful information had come from the interrogation methods, Cheney dismissed the report as "full of crap". He told Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to implement measures and create programmes to apprehend the perpetrators who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it was not repeated. That was specifically what they did and they merit a lot of praise."
External Perception
Cheney reveled in nicknames given to him by detractors such as the Star Wars villain and The Prince of Darkness, and by the idea that he was a shadow power directing Bush. In the journalist's 2013 publication about the pair, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is cited as commenting: "Do I represent the malevolent mastermind in the background that operates invisibly come out of his domain? This represents a effective way to operate, actually."
Business Interests
Debate over his business interests accompanied him through his period as VP. While he had minimal expertise in commerce but strong connections in military, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's largest energy conglomerates, in 1995 as leader and top executive.
In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's election partner for the White House. Contentiously, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was granted US contracts worth substantial sums.
It significantly boosted his finances. His annual income during his time at the firm rose from his $258,394 when he was Pentagon chief to millions. When he left in 2000 he had a package valued at in excess of $20m|twenty
