The former US VP Dick Cheney, who passed away at the age of 84, was considered one of the most powerful occupants of that position in US history. Although countless second-in-commands were confined to peripheral or ceremonial functions, Cheney held huge sway during the administration of George W Bush, so much so that he was frequently described as the "true president".
Bush disliked such a characterisation and said the connection was more nuanced. He noted that Cheney was deferential, always calling him in public as the President, while he called him as Dick. Bush disputed even descriptions of their association as a partnership because it indicated that they were peers. Regardless of such protestations, Cheney considered the easygoing president accommodating on a broad range of administrative determinations.
The Post-9/11 Era
In charge of a faction of neo-conservatives that included Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he pushed hard for the military intervention of Iraq in 2003 in reaction to the September 11th attacks on New York and Washington. During of the 9/11 assault, Bush had been participating in a meeting at a school in Florida. As Bush made his way to a underground facility in Nebraska, Cheney assumed control, directing the downing of any unresponsive aircraft nearing the US Capitol.
Cheney claimed the assaults changed him, leading him to become intent on retribution. Along with other conservative figures, like Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he campaigned for a takeover of Afghanistan in an endeavor to apprehend Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the military action of Iraq, even though there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein having involvement.
Disputed Actions
He expressed no regrets about the armed intervention, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis died, nor about the enhanced interrogation of suspects rounded up after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was predicated on faulty intelligence echoed by Cheney, was the right course of action. "It proved to be the correct action to do back then. I was convinced back then and I maintain that stance today."
But during that period, there were dissenting voices at a senior level about the poor management of Iraq. One of the government's own special envoys to the Middle East, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the position. "I saw, at a minimum," he subsequently stated "clear negligence, carelessness, and irresponsibility: in the worst case, lying, incompetence, and graft."
Additional Factors
Cheney was not solely accountable for the Iraq campaign. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had called for comparable steps. He had composed a document setting out situations in which US concerns might be threatened (including "availability of essential resources, mainly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "the US should be positioned to act independently when joint efforts prove impossible," particularly mentioning armed actions against Iraq.
Bush too had entered the Oval Office generally inclined on implementing what his predecessor had specifically avoided to do in 1991; topple Saddam. Subsequent to he had been fired 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 stated his objective of reducing America's participation in the Middle East dispute and suggested armed intervention against Iraq.
Bush carried a individual resentment against Saddam, convinced he had been behind a scheme to assassinate his predecessor, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He furthermore resented that one of the largest establishments in Baghdad had a surface artwork with a likeness of his parent's visage that each person had to step on.
Questioning Techniques
Yet it was Cheney who was part of the most vociferous behind attacking Iraq, consistently citing agency briefings that were either weak or completely deceptive. He supported what the Bush government indirectly described as "advanced techniques", the use of simulated drowning and physical pressure.
Answering a Senate document in 2014 that concluded that no actionable intelligence had been obtained through the torture, Cheney disregarded the findings as "riddled with crap". He stated to Fox News: "We asked [the CIA] to establish protocols and establish programmes to catch the perpetrators who killed 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it was not repeated. That is precisely what they did and they earn a lot of credit."
Public Image
Cheney reveled in labels imposed on him by opponents such as the Star Wars villain and the sinister presence, and by the idea that he was a shadow power directing Bush. In Peter Baker's 2013 book about the two, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is reported as stating: "Do I represent the evil genius in the shadows that remains unseen emerge from his domain? That is a advantageous way to function, in fact."
Business Interests
Debate over his business interests pursued him through his period as vice-president. Although he had little experience in corporate affairs but strong connections in security, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was invited to join Halliburton, one of the world's biggest petroleum conglomerates, in 1995 as chairman and chief executive.
In 2000 he was selected as Bush's election partner for the White House. Contentiously, during the Iraq war, Halliburton was granted US agreements totaling multiple billions.
It made him rich. His yearly compensation during his time at the company increased from his $258,394 while military head to $4.4m. When he departed in 2000 he had a compensation package worth more than $20m|twenty
