The former US vice-president Dick Cheney, who passed away at the age of 84, was seen as one of the most influential holders of that office in American history. Although numerous second-in-commands were limited to minor or ceremonial functions, Cheney held substantial power during the presidency of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was commonly referred to as the "real president".
Bush objected to such a characterisation and said the dynamic was more complex. He pointed out that Cheney was respectful, always addressing him in public as President, while he called him as Dick. Bush disputed even portrayals of their association as a collaboration because it indicated that they were peers. Regardless of these objections, Cheney considered the relaxed president malleable on a broad range of policy decisions.
The Aftermath of 9/11
At the head of a faction of conservative hawks that encompassed Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and assistant defense secretary Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the military intervention 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 session at a educational institution in Florida. Whereas Bush traveled to a secure location in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, commanding the shooting down of any unresponsive airplanes approaching the Capitol building.
Cheney stated the strikes altered his perspective, leading him to become intent on retaliation. In conjunction with other conservative figures, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a invasion of Afghanistan in an endeavor to seize Osama bin Laden. Cheney then vigorously pushed for the armed intervention of Iraq, although there was little proof of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Debated Policies
He voiced no apologies about the armed intervention, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis lost their lives, and not about the harsh treatment of individuals rounded up after 9/11. He told CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion effort, which was predicated on misleading information circulated by Cheney, was the right path to take. "It proved to be the right thing to do back then. I had faith at the time and I maintain that stance presently."
But even then, there were dissenting voices at a senior level about the botched execution of Iraq. One of the administration's own special envoys to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was not reappointed from the position. "I observed, at a minimum," he wrote later "obvious failure, negligence, and irresponsibility: potentially, lying, incompetence, and corruption."
Additional Factors
Cheney was not solely responsible for the Iraq campaign. Before 9/11, Wolfowitz had pushed for comparable steps. He had composed a memo setting out scenarios in which American interests might be threatened (encompassing "access to essential resources, primarily Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "America should be postured to act independently when cooperative measures cannot be arranged," specifically referencing defense operations against Iraq.
Bush too had entered the presidency generally inclined on implementing what his predecessor had specifically avoided to do in 1991; overthrow Saddam. After he had been fired by the president, the treasury secretary Paul O'Neill revealed how, at the opening session of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had announced his objective of diminishing America's involvement in the regional tensions and proposed armed intervention against Iraq.
Bush carried a personal grudge against Saddam, believing he had been involved in a plot to assassinate his father, President George HW Bush, on a visit to Kuwait in 1993. He additionally objected to that one of the biggest establishments in Baghdad had a ground design with a portrait of his parent's visage that everyone had to walk over.
Investigation Approaches
However it was Cheney who was part of the most vehement behind attacking Iraq, frequently referencing information documents that were both thin or entirely inaccurate. He endorsed what the Bush White House politely called as "intensive questioning", the use of interrogation method and harsh treatment.
Addressing a Senate analysis in 2014 that concluded that no actionable intelligence had come from the interrogation methods, Cheney disregarded the findings as "riddled with crap". He stated to Fox News: "We requested [the CIA] to implement measures and establish initiatives to apprehend the perpetrators who took the lives of 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it was not repeated. That's exactly what they did and they deserve a lot of recognition."
External Perception
Cheney reveled in monikers given to him by critics such as Darth Vader and the sinister presence, and by the concept that he was a shadow power manipulating Bush. In the author's 2013 book about the pair, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is quoted as saying: "Is it me who is the sinister strategist in the shadows that nobody ever sees come out of his domain? This represents a nice way to function, actually."
Business Interests
Controversy over his commercial relationships accompanied him throughout his time as second-in-command. While he had minimal expertise in business but good contacts in defence, especially in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's largest oil and gas companies, in 1995 as chair and top executive.
In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's election partner for the executive branch. Debatably, during the military campaign, Halliburton was granted US deals valued at multiple billions.
It significantly boosted his finances. His annual income during his period at the corporation rose from his previous salary while military head to $4.4m. When he left in 2000 he had a package totaling over $20m|twenty
