The former US VP Dick Cheney, who died at age 84, was considered among the most influential incumbents of that position in American history. While numerous second-in-commands were limited to marginal or ceremonial roles, Cheney held huge influence during the presidency of George W Bush, to such an extent that he was frequently described as the "actual president".
Bush resented such a characterisation and stated the dynamic was more complex. He pointed out that Cheney was respectful, always referring to him in public settings as the President, while he referred to him as Dick. Bush challenged even portrayals of their relationship as a partnership because it suggested that they were on equal footing. Despite these denials, Cheney considered the laidback president pliable on a wide array of policy decisions.
The Period Following the Attacks
Leading of a contingent of neo-cons that included Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld and Pentagon second-in-command Paul Wolfowitz, he vigorously promoted the invasion of Iraq in 2003 in response to the September 11th attacks on New York and Washington. During of the 9/11 attack, Bush had been participating in a gathering at a educational institution in Florida. While Bush headed for a secret bunker in Nebraska, Cheney took charge, directing the shooting down of any non-communicating planes approaching the US Capitol.
Cheney stated the assaults transformed him, causing him to be intent on retaliation. Along with other neo-cons, including Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz, he advocated for a invasion of Afghanistan in an effort to capture Osama bin Laden. Cheney then strongly advocated for the armed intervention of Iraq, although there was insufficient indication of Saddam Hussein being involved.
Controversial Policies
He showed no remorse about the armed intervention, in which an reckoned 100,000 Iraqis died, or about the harsh treatment of suspects captured after 9/11. He informed CNN in 2015 that the Iraq invasion, which was based on inaccurate reports circulated by Cheney, was the correct decision. "It was the correct action to do back then. I had faith then and I maintain that stance now."
However during that period, there were opposing views at a senior level about the mishandling of Iraq. One of the government's own representatives to the area, General Anthony Zinni (2001-03), was dismissed from the role. "I witnessed, at a minimum," he wrote later "obvious failure, inaction, and irresponsibility: in the worst case, falsehoods, ineptitude, and dishonesty."
Additional Factors
Cheney was not entirely responsible for the Iraq invasion. Even before 9/11, Wolfowitz had advocated for such action. He had written a memo detailing circumstances in which US concerns might be endangered (encompassing "obtaining crucial commodities, mostly Persian Gulf oil"). Wolfowitz had asserted that "America should be postured to operate alone when collective action prove impossible," specifically citing military moves against Iraq.
Bush additionally had entered the Oval Office somewhat determined on executing what his father had specifically avoided to do in 1991; topple Saddam. Subsequent to he had been sacked by the president, the Treasury head Paul O'Neill recounted how, at the first meeting of the National Security Council in January 2001, Bush had declared his plan of reducing America's participation in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and mooted armed intervention against Iraq.
Bush held a private grievance against Saddam, convinced he had been behind a scheme to assassinate his father, President George HW Bush, on a journey to Kuwait in 1993. He also objected to that one of the largest establishments in Baghdad had a ground design with a image of his father's visage that each person had to step on.
Interrogation Methods
Yet it was Cheney who was part of the most vehement advocating attacking Iraq, consistently quoting information documents that were both weak or totally deceptive. He supported what the Bush administration politely called as "enhanced interrogation", the application of waterboarding and harsh treatment.
Responding to a Senate report in 2014 that found that no useful information had come from the harsh techniques, Cheney disregarded the report as "loaded with crap". He told Fox News: "We instructed [the CIA] to establish protocols and put in place procedures to catch the individuals who took the lives of 3,000 of us on 9/11 and guarantee it would not recur. That's exactly what they did and they earn a lot of praise."
Public Persona
Cheney reveled in monikers given to him by detractors such as the dark character and the dark figure, and by the notion that he was a sinister influence controlling Bush. In the author's 2013 volume about the two, Days of Fire: Bush and Cheney in the White House, Cheney is reported as stating: "Is it me who is the sinister strategist in the background that nobody ever sees emerge from his hole? This represents a advantageous way to work, in fact."
Corporate Connections
Dispute over his commercial relationships pursued him through his period as vice-president. Although he had little experience in corporate affairs but established relationships in security, particularly in Saudi Arabia, he was asked to become part of Halliburton, one of the world's largest oil and gas corporations, in 1995 as chairman and CEO.
In 2000 he assumed the role of Bush's VP candidate for the presidency. Contentiously, during the conflict in Iraq, Halliburton was granted US deals valued at billions.
It greatly increased his wealth. His yearly compensation during his time at the company rose from his previous salary during his time as Pentagon chief to $4.4m. When he departed in 2000 he had a package valued at more than $20m|twenty
